Sample records for sealed vessel pyrolysis

This invention relates to an apparatus and method for sealing the cold leg nozzles of a nuclear reactor pressure vessel from a remote location during maintenance and inspection of associated steam generators and pumps while the pressure vessel and refueling canal are filled with water. The apparatus includes a sealing plug for mechanically sealing the cold leg nozzle from the inside of a reactor pressure vessel. The sealing plugs include a primary and a secondary O-ring. An installation tool is suspended within the reactor vessel and carries the sealing plug. The tool telescopes to insert the sealing plug within the cold leg nozzle, and to subsequently remove the plug. Hydraulic means are used to activate the sealing plug, and support means serve to suspend the installation tool within the reactor vessel during installation and removal of the sealing plug

An apparatus is described for sealing a cold leg nozzle of a nuclear reactor pressure vessel from a remote location comprising: at least one sealing plug for mechanically sealing the nozzle from the inside of the reactor pressure vessel. The sealing plug includes a plate and a cone assembly having an end part receptive in the nozzle, the plate being axially moveable relative to the cone assembly. The plate and cone assembly have confronting bevelled edges defining an opening therebetween. A primary O-ring is disposed about the opening and is supported on the bevelled edges, the plate being guidably mounted to the cone assembly for movement toward the cone assembly to radially expand the primary O-ring into sealing engagement with the nozzle. A means is included for providing relative movement between the outer plate and the cone assembly

An improved seal between the piston and die member of a piston-cylinder type pressure vessel is presented. A layer of gold, of sufficient thickness to provide an interference fit between the piston and die member, is plated on the contacting surface of at least one of the members. (AEC)

A description is given of seals for sealing a pressure vessel such as a nuclear reactor vessel, steam boiler vessel, or any other vessel which is desirably sealed against pressure of the type including a housing and a housing closure that present opposed vertical sealing surfaces which define the sides of a channel. The seals of the present invention comprise at least one sealing member disposed in the channel, having at least one stop face, a base portion and two shank portions extending from the base portion to form a groove-like recess. The shank portions are provided with sealing surfaces arranged to mate with the opposed vertical pressure vesselsealing surfaces. A shank-spreading wedge element also disposed in the channel has at least one stop face and is engaged in the groove-like recess with the sealing member and wedge element stop face adjacent to each other

There is the coolant with radiation, high temperature and high pressure in the reactor pressure vessel (RPV). It is closely correlated to RPV sealing capability whether the whole nuclear system work well or not. The aim of this paper is to study the seal analysis method and technology, such as the pre-tensioning of the bolt, elastoplastic contact and coupled technology of thermal and structure. The 3 D elastoplastic seal analysis method really and generally consider the loads and model the contact problem with friction between the contact plates. This method is easier than the specialized seal program and used widely. And it is more really than the 2 D seal analysis method. This 3 D elastoplastic seal analysis method has been successfully used in the design and analysis of RPV. (authors)

An improved type of closure head seal for the rotatable plugs of the reactor vessel of a liquid metal fast breeder reactor is described. The seal prevents the release of radioactive particles while allowing the plug to be rotated without major manipulation of the seal structure. (UK)

The seal surface structure is very important to reactor pressure vessel (RPV) sealing behavior. In this paper, two 3-D RPV sealing analysis finite models have been established with different seal surface structures, in order to study the influence of two structures. The separation of RPV upper and lower flanges, bolt loads and etc. are obtained, which are used to evaluate the sealing behavior of the RPV. Meanwhile, the comparative analysis of safety margin of two seal surface structural had been done, which provides the theoretical basis for RPV seal structure design optimization. (authors)

The nuclear reactor vessel described includes an obturator head mounted on the vessel and supporting rotating components by means of bearings with seals located at the circumference of the rotating components, as well as a system for lubricating the seals and bearings, marked by the fact that each rotating component rests on a first annular support fixed to the rim of the rotating component and provided with a part extending vertically above the latter. This first support has an extension descending externally at a distance from this vertical part so as to form an annular space. This annular space accomodates a second annular support, whilst bearings and seals are located between the extension of the first support and the outside of the second support, in order to prevent the lubricant applied to the bearings and seals from entering the space between the first and second annular supports [fr

Full Text Available Devanathan Raghavan,1 John A Howington,2 Duan Broughton,1 Cortney E Henderson,1 Jeffrey W Clymer1 1Preclinical Research, Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Cincinnati, OH, USA; 2NorthShore University HealthSystem, Chicago, IL, USA Abstract: Ultrasonic cutting and coagulating devices have been used successfully in thoracic applications such as pulmonary resection or artery harvesting, but few studies have evaluated their use in sealing pulmonary vessels. In this study we compared two commercially available devices, Harmonic Ace+ (HAR, Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc., Cincinnati OH, USA and SonoSurg (SS, Olympus America, Center Valley, PA, USA, in a canine preclinical model. There were three sections to the study: acute, survival, and ex vivo (burst pressure. Hemostasis of sealed pulmonary arteries and veins was assessed for the initial application and during a simulated hypertensive crisis, both immediately after vesselsealing and after a survival period of 30 days. Other intraoperative measures were also evaluated, including transection time, tissue sticking, tissue tags, and char on the seal. Histological evaluation was performed both after initial sealing and after the survival period. Burst pressure of sealedvessels was measured ex vivo. For both devices, hemostasis was excellent, including those measurements made under simulated hypertensive crisis. There were no differences in any of the intraoperative measures or thermal damage evaluated histologically. Wound healing was normal. The burst pressures for ex vivo vesselssealed by HAR (median 619.2 mmHg were significantly higher than those of SS (350.3 mmHg, P = 0.022. Both devices displayed acceptable characteristics in sealing canine pulmonary arteries and veins. The only difference observed was that HAR produced burst pressures 76.8% greater than SS, which may lead to a lower percentage of failures in the region of physiological interest. Use of ultrasonic devices in thoracic applications provides a high

The general conception of a special research on sealing behaviour of PWR vessel is described and the major results centering on the establishment of sealing analysis program system and its experimental verification, along with the description on the development and measurement of sealing ring, the thermal sealing test and the relevant analysis are given. On the basis of the above approach, the vesselsealing behaviours of 300 MWe Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant are evaluated. A concept on the classification of pressure vessels and their sealing criteria are proposed. Two viewpoints on the analysis are suggested, which are that the vesselsealing deformation analysis should be regarded as a basis of the general stress analysis and that bolt loading increment caused by the bolt temperature lag should be taken as a key point when considering the thermo-contact coupling in transient sealing analysis. The understanding about the sealing mechanism are expounded and the thermal equivalent of hydrostatic test is discussed

An article describes technical solution for renovation of the sealing planes of WWER-440 reactor's pressure vessel. Four nickel sealing rings placed in four concentric grooves are providing hermetic sealing between the vessel and the lid of this type of the reactor. Impeccable seal of the reactor's pressure vessel, where the fission reaction takes place, represents a basic security factor for safe electric energy production. Principle of renovation of the reactor's pressure vessel and lid sealing planes is based on mechanical enlargement of defective grooves and following cladding of the new material by TIG welding. Final step for renovation includes machining of new grooves according to geometrical and surface quality requirements (Authors)

The NET vacuum vessel is made up of 16 wedged and 16 parallel segments bolted together to form a stiff toroidal structure which acts both as shielding for the coils and as vacuum tight barrier between the plasma chamber and the cryostat vacuum. Lip seals are welded between parallel and wedged segments to guarantee a continuous welded wall in front of the plasma. In order to provide an interspace for leak detection, a second seal is envisaged. No hands-on maintenance procedures will be possible on the seal, since the atmosphere insid the torus wil be contaminated and the internal components activated. Therefore the welding/cutting operations on the seal will be carried out remotely. This paper reports the results of an industrial study contract placed to finalize the design of the seal and of the Remote Handling equipment. (author). 1 ref.; 5 figs.; 2 tabs

Large numbers of harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) use habitat in tidewater glaciers in Alaska for pupping, breeding, and molting. Glacial fjords are also popular tourist destinations; however, visitation by numerous vessels can result in disturbance of seals during critical life-history phases. We explored factors affecting haul-out behavior of harbor seals at a glacial site frequented by tourism vessels. In 2008-10, we deployed VHF transmitters on 107 seals in Endicott Arm, Alaska. We remotely monitored presence and haul-out behavior of tagged seals and documented vessel presence with time-lapse cameras. We evaluated the influence of environmental and physical factors on the probability of being hauled out, duration of haul-out bouts, and as factors associated with the start and end of a haulout. Location, season, hour, and interactions of location by year, season, hour, and sex significantly influenced haul-out probability, as did ice, weather, and vessels. Seals were more likely to be hauled out with greater ice availability during the middle of the day, and less likely to be hauled out if vessels were present. Cruise ships had the strongest negative effect; however, most vessel types negatively affected haul-out probability. Haul-out duration was longest in association with starting on incoming tides, clear skies, no precipitation, occurring in the middle of the day, and ending in the late afternoon or evening. End of haulouts was associated with increasing cloud cover, low ice availability, and vessel presence; large-sized tourism vessels or all-vessel-types combined were significant predictors of ending a haul-out bout. Probability of being hauled out was highest in June, during pupping season. Potential disturbances of harbor seals could be reduced, enabling longer resting times for seals and fewer interruptions for nursing pups, if vessels focused the majority of visits to glacial habitat to before or after the hours of 08:00-17:00 or, less optimally, 09:00-16:00.

Lumboaortic lymphadenectomy is frequently performed in the surgical management of different gynecologic pelvic malignancies: cervical endometrial and ovarian cancer. The retroperitoneal access presents a real advantage, allowing direct access to vascular axes, thus avoiding bowel segments. The use of a vessel-sealing device could facilitate the technique by providing an ergonomic alternative to conventional tools such as a bipolar grasper and scissors. Here the surgical technique of laparoscopic retroperitoneal lumboaortic lymphadenectomy using a vessel-sealing device in 10 steps is described. Educative video (Canadian Task Force classification III). Tertiary referral center in Strasbourg, France. Women undergoing lumboaortic lymphadenectomy. Laparoscopic retroperitoneal lumboaortic lymphadenectomy using a vessel-sealing device. The local institutional review board approved the video. The surgeon and assistant are positioned on the left of the patient and the column is placed in front. After peritoneal exploration 3 trocars are introduced in the left flank according to a very precise arrangement. We use a camera scope with a zero-degree view angle. After development of the extraperitoneal space and identification of the vascular landmarks, lymphadenectomy using a vessel-sealing device involves several steps in an anticlockwise direction starting from the left common iliac group. We first start with the lateroaortic group of lymph nodes. We then continue with the preaortic, interaorticocaval, and precaval supramesenteric group. After that, we perform the inframesenteric dissection of lymph nodes, the bifurcation of the aorta, and finally the right common iliac group. At the end of the procedure, in the absence of signs of metastatic lymph nodes, we open the peritoneum. Retroperitoneal lumboaortic lymphadenectomy using a vessel-sealing device is useful because of better ergonomics of the multitasking instrument, avoiding alternating between scissors and bipolar

The primary heat sink of prototype fast breeder reactor is a sodium pool which is partitioned into cold pool and hot pool. The inner vessel which separates the cold and hot pools is having penetrations for intermediate heat exchangers. The hot sodium from hot pool leaks into the cold pool through these penetrations and to reduce the leakage, mechanical seals are provided. Leakage of hot sodium into cold pool can lead to thermal stratification in the cold pool and also will affect the temperature distribution in inner vessel. 3-D CFD studies were performed focusing these features as a function of sodium leakage. The analyses indicate that the maximum temperature difference across the IV thickness is 65°C without any leakage of sodium. The temperature difference is found to decrease with increase in leakage through the seals. It is seen that a leakage of 2.5% is acceptable. (author)

In the event of a nuclear power plant accident such as a core meltdown and a cooling system failure, the containment contains radioactive materials released from the reactor pressure vessel to reduce the activity of the radioactive materials and the effects of radiation in the vicinity of the plant. Since high sealing performance and high pressure resistance are required of the containment, a silicone or EPDM rubber gasket with high heat and radiation resistance is used for the sealing of the sealing boundary of the containment. In recent years, it has been shown that a large amount of steam is released into the containment in the case of a severe accident. Consequently, radiation resistance at high temperature as well as steam resistance is required of the rubber gasket placed at the sealing boundary. However, the steam resistance of silicone rubber is not necessarily as good as that of EPDM rubber. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the sealing characteristics of rubber gaskets in such a degrading environment in a severe accident. O. Kato et al. [1] conducted a study on the degradation status of rubber gaskets and their application limits at high temperature. However, few studies have evaluated rubber gaskets in high-temperature radiation and steam environments. In this study, we degraded silicone rubber and EPDM rubber used for the containment in the high-temperature radiation and steam environments expected to occur in a severe accident and evaluated the useful life of the rubber as a sealing material by estimating the change in its performance as a sealing material from the change in permanent compressive strain in the rubber. (author)

Full Text Available Large numbers of harbor seals (Phoca vitulina use habitat in tidewater glaciers in Alaska for pupping, breeding, and molting. Glacial fjords are also popular tourist destinations; however, visitation by numerous vessels can result in disturbance of seals during critical life-history phases. We explored factors affecting haul-out behavior of harbor seals at a glacial site frequented by tourism vessels. In 2008-10, we deployed VHF transmitters on 107 seals in Endicott Arm, Alaska. We remotely monitored presence and haul-out behavior of tagged seals and documented vessel presence with time-lapse cameras. We evaluated the influence of environmental and physical factors on the probability of being hauled out, duration of haul-out bouts, and as factors associated with the start and end of a haulout. Location, season, hour, and interactions of location by year, season, hour, and sex significantly influenced haul-out probability, as did ice, weather, and vessels. Seals were more likely to be hauled out with greater ice availability during the middle of the day, and less likely to be hauled out if vessels were present. Cruise ships had the strongest negative effect; however, most vessel types negatively affected haul-out probability. Haul-out duration was longest in association with starting on incoming tides, clear skies, no precipitation, occurring in the middle of the day, and ending in the late afternoon or evening. End of haulouts was associated with increasing cloud cover, low ice availability, and vessel presence; large-sized tourism vessels or all-vessel-types combined were significant predictors of ending a haul-out bout. Probability of being hauled out was highest in June, during pupping season. Potential disturbances of harbor seals could be reduced, enabling longer resting times for seals and fewer interruptions for nursing pups, if vessels focused the majority of visits to glacial habitat to before or after the hours of 08:00-17:00 or, less

overlaps with peak tourism in Glacier Bay, and the majority of tourists visit the park on a motorized vessel. Because of this overlap, I investigated the impacts of vessel noise on the vocal behavior of individual males. In the presence of vessel noise, male harbor seals increase the amplitude of their vocalizations, decrease the duration, and increase the minimum frequency. These vocal shifts are similar to studies of noise impacts on other species across taxa, but it is unknown how this could impact the reproductive success of male harbor seals. Finally, I looked at the role of female preference for male vocalizations. Using playbacks of male vocalizations to captive female harbor seals, I found that females have a higher response to vocalizations that correspond to dominant males. Females were less responsive to subordinate male vocalizations, which had a shorter duration and a higher frequency. Given that male harbor seals decrease the duration and increase the frequency of vocalizations in the presence of noise, it is possible that these vocalizations become less attractive in noise.

This calculation is performed in accordance with HNF-PRO-8259, PHMC Calculation Preparation and Issue and addresses the question as to whether a flammable mixture of hydrogen gas can accumulate in a Hanford sealed nuclear storage vessel where the only source of hydrogen is the moisture in the air that initially filled the vessel Of specific concern is nuclear fuel inside IDENT 69-Gs, placed in Core Component Containers (CCCs) located inside Interim Storage Vaults (ISVs) at the Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP) The CCCs are to be removed from the ISVs and placed inside a Hanford Unirradiated Fuel Package (HUFP) for transport and interim storage. The repackaging procedures mandated that no plastics were permitted, all labels and tape were to be removed and the pins to be clean and inspected Loading of the fuel into the CCC/ISV package was permitted only if it was not raining or snowing. This was to preclude the introduction of any water The purpose was to minimize the presence of any hydrogenous material inside the storage vessels. The scope of NFPA 69, 'Standard on Explosion Prevention Systems', precludes its applicability for this case. The reactor fuel pins are helium bonded. The non-fuel pins, such as the pellet stacks, are also helium bonded. The fuel pellets were sintered at temperatures that preclude any residual hydrogenous material. Hydrogen gas can be formed from neutron and gamma radiolysis of water vapor. The radiolysis reaction is quite complex involving several intermediate radicals, and competing recombination reactions. Hydrogen gas can also be formed through corrosion. This analysis takes a simplistic approach and assumes that all water vapor present in the storage vessel is decomposed into hydrogen gas. Although the analysis is needed to specifically address HUFP storage of nuclear fuel, it is equally applicable to any sealed fuel storage vessel under the assumptions listed

Energy-based, radiofrequency (RF) and ultrasonic (US) devices currently provide rapid sealing of blood vessels during laparoscopic procedures. We are exploring infrared lasers as an alternate energy modality for vesselsealing, capable of generating less collateral thermal damage. Previous studies demonstrated feasibility of sealingvessels in an in vivo porcine model using a 1470-nm laser. However, the initial prototype was designed for testing in open surgery and featured tissue clasping and light delivery mechanisms incompatible with laparoscopic surgery. In this study, a laparoscopic prototype similar to devices currently in surgical use was developed, and performance tests were conducted on porcine renal blood vessels, ex vivo. The 5-mm outer-diameter laparoscopic prototype featured a traditional Maryland jaw configuration that enables tissue manipulation and blunt dissection. Laser energy was delivered through a 550-μm-core-diameter optical fiber with side-delivery from the lower jaw and beam dimensions of 18-mm length×1.2-mm width. The 1470-nm diode laser delivered 68 W with 3-s activation time, consistent with vesselseal times associated with RF and US-based devices. A total of 69 fresh porcine renal vessels with mean diameter of 3.3±1.7 mm were tested, ex vivo. Vessels smaller than 5-mm diameter were consistently sealed (48/51) with burst pressures greater than malignant hypertension blood pressure (180 mmHg), averaging 1038±474 mmHg. Vessels larger than 5 mm were not consistently sealed (6/18), yielding burst pressures of only 174±221 mmHg. Seal width, thermal damage zone, and thermal spread averaged 1.7±0.8, 3.4±0.7, and 1.0±0.4 mm, respectively. Results demonstrated that the 5-mm optical laparoscopic prototype consistently sealedvessels less than 5-mm diameter with low thermal spread. Further in vivo studies are planned to test the performance across a variety of vessels and tissues.

The Fuel Test Loop (FTL) is a facility that can conduct fuel irradiation tests at the HANARO (High flux Advanced Neutron Application Reactor). The FTL simulates commercial NPP operating conditions such as pressure, temperature and neutron flux levels to conduct irradiation and thermo hydraulic tests. It is composed of an In Pile test Section (IPS) and an Out Pile System (OPS). The OPS contains a pressurizer, cooler, pump, heater and purification system, which are necessary to maintain the proper fluid conditions. In addition, the OPS contains engineered safety systems that can safely shutdown both HANARO and FTL if an accident occurs. The IPS accommodating fuel pins has a loaded IP 1 hole in HANARO, and a double pressure vessel for the design conditions of 350 .deg. C, 17.5MPa and is composed of an outer assembly and inner assembly. It has instruments such as a thermocouple, LVDT and SPND to measure the fuel performances during the test. FTL coolant is supplied to the IPS at the core of commercial nuclear power plants at the same temperature, pressure and flow conditions. Sensors are installed on the inside of the IPS to send signal transmission MI Cables to the outside for instrumentation through the pressure boundary. Therefore, the pressure boundary should be maintained in the sealing performance. Currently, the sealing of the IPS of the the FTL is maintained through a brazing method. However, A brazing method has disadvantages that can occur owing to thermal deformation or breakage in the instrumentation Mi cable. IPS inner assembly is a very long design length (approximately 5.29m), so it is difficult to perform in a vacuum chamber. Therefore, an easy and reliable way to assemble the instrumentation Mi cable mechanical sealing method has been studied. In this study, criteria tests at the pressure boundary were performed using universally applicable graphite powder for the instrumentation MI cable of various sizes

Many devices are available for vascular control during laparoscopic colorectal procedures. Ultrasonic coagulating shears (UCS), vascular staplers, titanium or plastic clips, and electrothermal bipolar vesselsealing (EBVS) are currently used according to the surgeon's preference. This study aimed to compare EBVS Ligasure with UCS. We report the outcome of 200 consecutive unselected patients who underwent laparoscopic colorectal resections of which 100 were performed with EBVS Ligasure (from September 2004 to December 2005, group 1) and 100 with UCS harmonic scalpel (from December 2002 to June 2004, group 2). Only the following three types of operation were performed: right colectomy (RC), left colectomy (LC), and low anterior resections (LAR). Emergency procedures have been excluded. The same attending surgical teams performed or supervised all procedures. Operating time, blood loss, complications, and postoperative hospital stay were investigated. Age, gender, previous surgical abdominal procedures, and ASA risk were similar between the two groups, as well as was the percentage of malignant cases (74% vs. 71%, respectively). There were 32 vs. 37 RC, 50 vs. 47 LC, and 18 vs. 16 LAR in groups 1 and 2, respectively. There was no mortality in either group. A conversion to open surgery and two major complications occurred in group 2. There were no statistically significant differences in mean operating time (111 vs. 133, 140 vs. 176, and 153 vs. 201 min) and in the mean postoperative hospital stay (5.2 vs. 6.1, 6.5 vs. 7.1, and 6.8 vs 7.3 days) for RC, LC, and LAR between group 1 and 2, respectively. We do report interesting data about statistically significant differences in the blood loss: 115 vs. 370, 150 vs. 455, and 185 vs. 495 ml for RC (p group 1 and group 2, respectively. In our laparoscopic colorectal experience, EBVS Ligasure has proven safe and effective in vesselsealing. Patients in whom this device was used had less blood loss and slight advantages in

Fuel Test Loop(FTL) is a facility which could conduct a fuel irradiation test at HANARO(High-flux Advanced Neutron Application Reactor). FTL simulates commercial NPP's operating conditions such as the pressure, temperature and neutron flux levels to conduct the irradiation and thermo-hydraulic tests. It is composed of an In-Pile test Section(IPS) and an Out- Pile System(OPS). The OPS contains a pressurizer, cooler, pump, heater and purification system which are necessary to maintain the proper fluid conditions. In addition, the OPS contains engineered safety systems that could safely shutdown both HANARO and FTL if an accident occurs. The IPS accommodating fuel pins has loaded IP-1 hole in HANARO has a double pressure vessel for the design conditions of 350 .deg. C, 17.5MPa and is composed of outer assembly and inner assembly. It has instruments such as a thermocouple, LVDT and SPND to measure the fuel performances during the test. FTL coolant is supplied to the IPS at the core of commercial nuclear power plants and the same temperature, pressure and flow conditions. Sensors installed on the inside of IPS to send a signal transmission MI-Cables to the outside for instrumentation is through the pressure boundary. Therefore, pressure boundary should be maintained in the sealing performance. Brazing is typically lower than the melting point of material without melting the material almost would be like welding when it is necessary to use. It is commonly used to use BAg(ASME II SFA-5.8 UNS-P07563) filler metal, but corrosion occurs containing a large quantity of copper in Bag, and when contact with the coolant, the coolant water quality is influenced. Therefore, using BNi-2(ASME II SFA-5.8 UNS-N99620) filler metal is considered. Brazing at the Sealing Plug in the top of IPS was considered for Mi-cable's integrity and to maintain the pressure boundary. After brazing is performed, brazing the Mi-cable integrity and pressure boundary sealing performance was tested

An aperture through a biological shield is sealed by a flexible sheath having a beading at one end located on an annular member slidable in the aperture such that the beading bears in sealing engagement against the sides of the aperture. The annular member is retained by a retractable latch and can be rejected by pushing it out of the aperture using a replacement annular member with a replacement sheath thereon to butt against the annular member to be rejected. The replacement annular member may be mounted on a tubular device having an outer co-axial member for operating the latch when the replacement annular member butts against the annular member to be rejected. Applications include effecting a seal between a remote handling equipment and a wall through which the equipment extends. (author)

Various techniques have been used for the division of mesoappendix, such as endoloops, endoscopic linear cutting staplers, an electrothermal vessel-sealing system (LigaSure), the Harmonic Scalpel, clips, and bipolar coagulation. In the present study, LigaSure and an endoclip were compared in laparoscopic appendectomy (LA). This study included patients who underwent LA for acute appendicitis at Istanbul University, Cerrahpasa Medical Faculty, Emergency Unit (Istanbul, Turkey) between May 2003 and April 2007. The patients were assigned to two groups according to the mesoappendix dissection device: LigaSure and endoclip groups. The main outcome measures (e.g., operating time, conversion rate, hospital stay, postoperative complications, etc.) were then compared. LA was performed in 280 patients with acute appendicitis. LigaSure and endoclips were used in 127 and 153 patients, respectively. The mean operative times were 41 and 54 minutes in the LigaSure and endoclip groups, respectively. Conversions to open rates were found to be 9.4% (12 patients) in the LigaSure and 11.1% (17 patients) in endoclip groups. No statistically significant differences regarding hospital stay or complications were found, whereas significant differences were observed in surgical time and conversion rate. The use of LigaSure facilitates the dissection of mesoappendix and shortens the operation time in LA. We believe that LigaSure is a safe, useful tool for mesoappendix dissection.

The owners of nuclear power plants should be demonstrate that the embrittlement effects by neutronic radiation do not commit the structural integrity from the pressure vessel of nuclear reactors, during conditions of routine operation and below postulate accident. For this reason, there are surveillance programs of vessels of nuclear power plants, in which are present surveillance capsules. A surveillance capsule is compound by the support, six containers for test tubes and dosimeters. The containers for test tubes are of two types: rectangular container for test tubes, Charpy V and Cylindrical Container for tension test tubes. These test tubes are subject to a same or bigger neutronic flow to that of vessel, being representative of vessel mechanical conditions. The test tubes are rehearsed to watch over the increase of embrittlement that presents the vessel. This work describes the development of welding system to seal the containers for test tubes, these should be filled with helium of ultra high purity, to a pressure of an atmosphere. In this system the welding process Gas Tungsten Arc Welding is used, a hermetic camera that allows to place the containers with three grades of freedom, a vacuum subsystem and pressure, high technology equipment's like: power source with integrated computer, arc starter of high frequency, helium flow controller, among others. Finally, the advances in the inspection system for the qualification of sealing system are mentioned, system that should measure the internal pressure of containers and the helium purity inside these. (Author)

The aim of this study is to compare vaginal hysterectomy performed with standard technique versus the one performed with LigaSure. Observational-longitudinal-cohort study on 42 women candidates to vaginal hysterectomy because of benign uterine pathology. Outcome variables, methods of analysis, inclusion and exclusion criteria were determined prospectively. Eligible patients were subdivided in Group-A (LigaSure-21 patients), or in Group-B (classical-21 patients). Group-A was divided into Subgroup-A1 (10 patients) and Subgroup-A2 (11 patients), depending on the point where the stump of the uterosacral-ligament was transfixed: Subgroup-A1 at cervical portion, Subgroup-A2 at intermediate portion. For all patients were reported: pre-post surgery haemoglobin and hematocrit, number of sutures, duration of intervention and blood loss, NRS-score on first/third post-operative days. All patients underwent gynaecological examination 30 and 180 days after surgery. General characteristics did not show significant differences between the two groups. Statistically significant differences emerged from the comparison between Group-A versus Group-B in terms of: intraoperative bleeding, post-operative value of haemoglobin, Δ-Hb, number of sutures, surgical time, pain at first and third post-operative day. The 180 days follow-up demonstrated four cases of vaginal vault prolapse, only in the Subgroup-A1 related to thermal damage of the uterosacral ligament. LigaSure vesselsealing system is a safe alternative for securing pedicles in vaginal hysterectomy with significant improvement in patients outcome. Following vaginal vault prolapse, we determined the optimal fixation-site to perform the colposuspension in the intermediate portion of the uterosacral-ligament, especially if the cervical portion received a thermal damage, as occurs during the LigaSure use.

Full Text Available Introduction: Tonsillectomy is one of the most common procedures performed by otolaryngologists. Intraoperative bleeding is a significant problem, which requires hemostasis and causes prolonged operative time. Several different techniques are used to perform this operation. The Ligasure VesselSealing System (LVSST has been widely used in head and neck surgery because of its effectiveness and safety. Methods: This project was conducted at the department of otolaryngology of Besat Hospital, Hamadan, Iran. In this double-blinded clinical trial, 82 subjects, who were candidates for tonsillectomy and qualified in eligible criteria, were randomly assigned to 2 group of 41 subjects. Surgery was performed using Lvsst for one group and cold knife dissection for the other group. Measured outcomes for efficacy and adverse effect were intraoperative blood loss, operation time, post-operative pain in visual analogue scale, and post-operative bleeding for28 days after surgery. The SPSS 16 software was used for data analysis. Results: Method of LVSST was significantly better than CKT in operation time and bleeding on the first day after surgery, yet, postoperative blood loss in the first week after surgery in LVSST group was significantly higher than the CKT group. Severity of sore throat after surgery with Ligasure was higher than CKT the group, however the difference was not significant. Intraoperative bleeding in the LVSST group was significantly lower than that of the CKT group (P = 0.000. Conclusions: The results of this study showed that the prevalence of respiratory symptoms LVSST was better than CKT in intraoperative (not post-operative blood loss and operation time, yet there was no difference regarding postoperative pain. For workers with a history of allergies, this ratio is higher.

BACKGROUND: A variety of approaches are available for division of major vascular structures during laparoscopic colorectal resection. Ultrasonic coagulating shears (UCS), vascular staplers, plastic or titanium clips and electrothermal bipolar vesselsealing (EBVS) are currently available. We report our experience with an EBVS device, LigaSure (Covidien AG), used in division of the ileocolic, middle colic and inferior mesenteric arteries during laparoscopic colorectal resection. METHODS: We report the immediate outcome of 802 consecutive unselected patients who underwent elective laparoscopic colorectal cancer resection performed with use of the LigaSure (5 and 10 mm) at our institution over a 5-year period. Operative procedures included right hemicolectomy (n = 180), left hemicolectomy (n = 96), sigmoid colectomy (n = 347) and anterior resection (n = 179). Data were collected from a prospectively maintained cancer database and operative records. The procedures were performed primarily by three consultant surgeons with an interest in laparoscopic colorectal resection. RESULTS: Of 802 cases in which the LigaSure device was employed to divide major vascular structures, immediate effective vesselsealing was achieved in 99.8% (n = 800). Two patients experienced related adverse events both following division of the inferior mesenteric artery with a 5 mm LigaSure. Both patients had immediate uncontrolled haemorrhage that required laparotomy. CONCLUSIONS: Use of the LigaSure device to seal and divide the major mesenteric vessels during laparoscopic colorectal resection is very effective, with a high success rate of 99.8%. Caution should be exercised in elderly atherosclerotic patients, particularly when using the 5-mm LigaSure device.

Full Text Available Abstract Background Dissection during laparoscopic surgery produces smoke containing potentially toxic substances. The aim of the present study was to analyze smoke samples produced during laparoscopic colon surgery using a bipolar vesselsealing device (LigaSure™. Methods Four consecutive patients undergoing left-sided colectomy were enrolled in this pilot study. Smoke was produced by the use of LigaSure™. Samples (5,5l were evacuated from the pneumoperitoneum in a closed system into a reservoir. Analysis was performed with CO2-laser-based photoacoustic spectroscopy and confirmed by a Fourier-transform infrared spectrum. The detected spectra were compared to the available spectra of known toxins. Results Samples from four laparoscopic sigmoid resections were analyzed. No relevant differences were noted regarding patient and operation characteristics. The gas samples were stable over time proven by congruent control measurements as late as 24 h after sampling. The absorption spectra differed considerably between the patients. One broad absorption line at 100 ppm indicating H2O and several unknown molecules were detected. With a sensitivity of alpha min ca 10-5 cm-1 no known toxic substances like phenol or indole were identified. Conclusion The use of a vesselsealing device during laparoscopic surgery does not produce known toxic substances in relevant quantity. Further studies are needed to identify unknown molecules and to analyze gas emission under various conditions.

In an illustrative embodiment of the invention, a nuclear reactor pressure vessel, having an internal hoop from which the heated coolant emerges from the reactor core and passes through to the reactor outlet nozzles, is provided with annular sealing members operatively disposed between the outlet nozzle and the hoop and partly within a retaining annulus formed in the hoop. The sealing members are biased against the pressure vessel and the hoop and one of the sealing members is provided with a piston type pressure ring sealing member which effectively closes the path between the inlet and outlet coolants in the region about the outlet nozzle establishing a leak-proof condition. Furthermore, the flexible responsiveness of the seal assures that the seal will not structurally couple the hoop to the pressure vessel

Between 1965 and 1988, 16 naval reactor vessels were dumped in the Arctic Kara Sea. Six of the vessels contained spent nuclear fuel that had been damaged during accidents. In addition, a container holding ∼ 60% of the damaged fuel from the No. 2 reactor of the atomic icebreaker 'Lenin' was dumped in 1967. Before dumping, the vessels were filled with a solidification agent, Conservant F, in order to prevent direct contact between the seawater and the fuel and other activated components, thereby reducing the potential for release of radionuclides into the environment. The key ingredient in Conservant F is furfurol (furfuraldehyde). Other constituents vary, depending on specific property requirements, but include epoxy resin, mineral fillers, and hardening agents. The properties of Conservant F in both its cured and uncured states are discussed, and the potential performance of the waste packages containing spent nuclear fuel in the Arctic Kara Sea is evaluated. (author)

Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Parallel low-volume coffee extractions in sealed-vessel HPLC/GC vials. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Extractions are performed at high temperatures and pressures (200 Degree-Sign C/20 bar). Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Rapid caffeine determination from the liquid phase. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Headspace analysis of volatiles using solid-phase microextraction (SPME). - Abstract: A high-throughput platform for performing parallel solvent extractions in sealed HPLC/GC vials inside a microwave reactor is described. The system consist of a strongly microwave-absorbing silicon carbide plate with 20 cylindrical wells of appropriate dimensions to be fitted with standard HPLC/GC autosampler vials serving as extraction vessels. Due to the possibility of heating up to four heating platforms simultaneously (80 vials), efficient parallel analytical-scale solvent extractions can be performed using volumes of 0.5-1.5 mL at a maximum temperature/pressure limit of 200 Degree-Sign C/20 bar. Since the extraction and subsequent analysis by either gas chromatography or liquid chromatography coupled with mass detection (GC-MS or LC-MS) is performed directly from the autosampler vial, errors caused by sample transfer can be minimized. The platform was evaluated for the extraction and quantification of caffeine from commercial coffee powders assessing different solvent types, extraction temperatures and times. For example, 141 {+-} 11 {mu}g caffeine (5 mg coffee powder) were extracted during a single extraction cycle using methanol as extraction solvent, whereas only 90 {+-} 11 were obtained performing the extraction in methylene chloride, applying the same reaction conditions (90 Degree-Sign C, 10 min). In multiple extraction experiments a total of {approx}150 {mu}g caffeine was extracted from 5 mg commercial coffee powder. In addition to the quantitative caffeine determination, a comparative qualitative analysis of the liquid phase coffee

This invention provides sealed access to the interior of a pressure vessel and consists of a tube. a collar, redundant seals, and a port. The port allows the seals to be pressurized and seated before the pressure vessel becomes pressurized.

Bipolar vesselsealing is an efficient electrosurgical procedure for the occlusion of blood vessels particularly during minimally invasive surgery. Reliable knowledge of the thermal spread is crucial for a safe application of bipolar vesselsealing instruments when operating close to thermo-sensitive structures, such as nerves. The evolution of the thermal spread over time and space depends on a variety of parameters, such as the biological tissue, the energy applied to the tissue, and the geometry of the vesselsealing instrument. Mathematical modeling has proven useful for the prediction of the thermal spread. It is, thus, a promising tool for the systematic analysis of the influence of geometrical changes on the thermal spread. We present an experimentally validated in silico study to evaluate the impact of geometry variations on the progression of chicken egg white coagulation and the final shape of coagulated egg white as an approximation of the temporal and spatial evolution of the thermal spread during bipolar vesselsealing. Egg white has similar thermal and electrical properties to human tissue, with the advantage being that the spatial and temporal evolution of the thermal spread can be visually gauged. The simulations were performed using a mathematical model based on the finite element analysis of chicken egg white. The progression of egg white coagulation was predicted for two different peak voltages and various electrode geometries. Starting with two planar electrodes, one electrode was gradually changed to adopt a wedge shape. These changes to the geometry showed a distinct influence on the progression of egg white coagulation in the simulations. The predictions were successfully validated using an experimental setup with two different electrodes representing the extreme geometries. The predicted spatial temperature distributions were experimentally validated for two geometries. Our simulation study shows that the geometry has a pronounced influence

A liquid metal-cooled nuclear reactor sealing system is disclosed. The nuclear reactor includes a vesselsealed at its upper end by a closure head. The closure head comprises at least two components, one of which is rotatable; and the two components define an annulus therebetween. The sealing system includes at least a first and second inflatable seal disposed in series in an upper portion of the annulus. The system further includes a dip seal extending into a body of insulation located adjacent a bottom portion of the closure head. The dip seal comprises a trough formed by a lower portion of one of the components, and a seal blade pendently supported from the other component and extending downwardly into the trough. A body of liquid metal is contained in the trough which submerges a portion of the seal blade. The seal blade is provided with at least one aperture located above the body of liquid metal for providing fluid communication between the annulus intermediate the dip seal and the inflatable seals, and a body of cover gas located inside the vessel. There also is provided means for introducing a purge gas into the annulus intermediate the inflatable seals and the seal blade. The purge gas is introduced in an amount sufficient to substantially reduce diffusion of radioactive cover gas or sodium vapor up to the inflatable seals. The purge gas mixes with the cover gas in the reactor vessel where it can be withdrawn from the vessel for treatment and recycle to the vessel

Marine construction works often lead to temporary increases in vessel traffic, which, in addition to the construction activity itself, contribute to underwater ambient noise in the affected area and increase the risk of vessel collision for marine mammals. Using a 3 yr data set of cliff-based

The surveillance capsule is composed by the support, three capsules for impact test tubes, five capsules for tension test tubes and one porta dosemeters. The capsules for test tubes are of two types: rectangular capsule for Charpy test tubes and cylindrical capsule for tension test tubes. This work describes the development of the welding system to seal the capsules for test tubes that should contain helium of ultra high purity to a pressure of 1 atmosphere. (Author)

Inside this work the optimization of two welding systems is described, as well as the conclusion of a system for the qualification of containers sealing in the National Institute of Nuclear Research that have application in the surveillance programs of nuclear reactors vessels and the correspondent extension of the operation license. The test tubes Charpy are assay to evaluate the embrittlement grade, when obtaining the increment in the reference temperature and the decrease of the absorbed maximum energy, in the transition curve fragile-ductile of the material. After the test two test tube halves are obtained that should take advantage to follow the surveillance of the vessel and their possible operation extension, this is achieved by means of rebuilding (being obtained of a tested test tube two reconstituted test tubes). The welding system for the rebuilding of test tubes Charpy, was optimized when diminishing the union force at solder, achieving the elimination of the rejection for penetration lack for spill. For this work temperature measurements were carried out at different distances of the welding interface from 1 up to 12 mm, obtaining temperature profiles. With the maximum temperatures were obtained a graph and equation that represents the maximum temperature regarding the distance of the interface, giving as a result practical the elimination of other temperature measurements. The reconstituted test tubes were introduced inside pressurized containers with helium of ultra high purity to 1 pressure atmosphere. This process was carried out in the welding system for containers sealing, where an automatic process was implemented by means of an application developed in the program LabVIEW, reducing operation times and allowing the remote control of the process, the acquisition parameters as well as the generation of welding reports, avoiding with this the human error. (Author)

Seals and Sealing Handbook, 6th Edition provides comprehensive coverage of sealing technology, bringing together information on all aspects of this area to enable you to make the right sealing choice. This includes detailed coverage on the seals applicable to static, rotary and reciprocating applications, the best materials to use in your sealing systems, and the legislature and regulations that may impact your sealing choices. Updated in line with current trends this updated reference provides the theory necessary for you to select the most appropriate seals for the job and with its 'Failur

The seals described are for use in a nuclear reactor where there are fuel assemblies in a vessel, an inlet and an outlet for circulating a coolant in heat transfer relationship with the fuel assemblies and a closure head on the vessel in a tight fluid relationship. The closure head comprises rotatable plugs which have mechanical seals disposed in the annulus around each plug while allowing free rotation of the plug when the seal is not actuated. The seal is usually an elastomer or copper. A means of actuating the seal is attached for drawing it vertically into the annulus for sealing. When the reactor coolant is liquid sodium, contact with oxygen must be avoided and argon cover gas fills the space between the bottom of the closure head and the coolant liquid level and the annuli in the closure head. (U.K.)

The aim of this invention is the provision of improved seals for reactor vessels in which fuel assemblies are located together with inlets and outlets for the circulation of a coolant. The object is to provide a seal arrangement for the rotatable plugs of nuclear reactor closure heads which has good sealing capacities over a wide gap during operation of the reactor but which also permits uninhibited rotation of the plugs for maintenance. (U.K.)

Disclosed is a bearing and seal structure for nuclear reactors utilizing rotating plugs above the nuclear reactor vessel. The structure permits lubrication of bearings and seals of the rotating plugs without risk of the lubricant draining into the reactor vessel below. The structure permits lubrication by utilizing a rotating outer race bearing. 19 claims, 3 figures

The owners of nuclear power plants should be demonstrate that the embrittlement effects by neutronic radiation do not commit the structural integrity from the pressure vessel of nuclear reactors, during conditions of routine operation and below postulate accident. For this reason, there are surveillance programs of vessels of nuclear power plants, in which are present surveillance capsules. A surveillance capsule is compound by the support, six containers for test tubes and dosimeters. The containers for test tubes are of two types: rectangular container for test tubes, Charpy V and Cylindrical Container for tension test tubes. These test tubes are subject to a same or bigger neutronic flow to that of vessel, being representative of vessel mechanical conditions. The test tubes are rehearsed to watch over the increase of embrittlement that presents the vessel. This work describes the development of welding system to seal the containers for test tubes, these should be filled with helium of ultra high purity, to a pressure of an atmosphere. In this system the welding process Gas Tungsten Arc Welding is used, a hermetic camera that allows to place the containers with three grades of freedom, a vacuum subsystem and pressure, high technology equipment's like: power source with integrated computer, arc starter of high frequency, helium flow controller, among others. Finally, the advances in the inspection system for the qualification of sealing system are mentioned, system that should measure the internal pressure of containers and the helium purity inside these. (Author)

OBJECTIVE Microvascular decompression (MVD) is effective for the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia (TN), hemifacial spasm (HFS), and glossopharyngeal neuralgia. The transposition technique is the standard procedure to avoid adhesions and granuloma around the decompression site but is more complex and difficult to perform than the interposition technique. The authors describe a simple and safe MVD transposition procedure they call the "birdlime" technique, which uses a tissue glue-coated collagen sponge soaked with fibrin glue, and the results of this technique. METHODS The authors retrospectively reviewed the medical charts and radiographic findings of 27 consecutive patients with TN (8 patients) and HFS (19 patients) who, between January 2012 and December 2015, had undergone an MVD transposition procedure utilizing a tissue glue-coated collagen sponge (TachoSil tissue sealing sheet) soaked with fibrin glue (Tisseel 2-component fibrin sealant, vapor heated). Offending arteries among the patients with TN were the superior cerebellar artery (SCA) in 5 patients, the SCA and anterior inferior cerebellar artery (AICA) in 2, and the AICA in 1. Those among the patients with HFS were the vertebral artery (VA) in 3 patients, the VA and AICA in 4, the VA and posterior inferior cerebellar artery (PICA) in 3, the PICA in 4, the AICA in 1, the AICA-PICA in 3, and the PICA and AICA in 1. Operations were performed according to the Jannetta procedure. The offending artery was transposed and fixed to the dura mater of the petrous bone using TachoSil pieces soaked with fibrin glue. Postoperative constructive interference in steady-state MRI was performed to evaluate the change in the position of the offending artery. RESULTS Transposition of the offending artery was easily and safely performed in all patients. All patients had total remission of symptoms directly after the procedure. No severe complications occurred. The postoperative course was uneventful. No recurrences, adhesions

Wherever machinery operates there will be seals of some kind ensuring that the machine remains lubricated, the fluid being pumped does not leak, or the gas does not enter the atmosphere. Seals are ubiquitous, in industry, the home, transport and many other places. This 5th edition of a long-established title covers all types of seal by application: static, rotary, reciprocating etc. The book bears little resemblance to its predecessors, and Robert Flitney has re-planned and re-written every aspect of the subject. No engineer, designer or manufacturer of seals can afford to be without this uniq

Hernetic glass sealing technologies developed for weapons component applications can be utilized for the design and manufacture of fuel cells. Design and processing of of a seal are optimized through an integrated approach based on glass composition research, finite element analysis, and sealing process definition. Glass sealing procedures are selected to accommodate the limits imposed by glass composition and predicted calculations.

A combination seal and bearing arrangement for use in a nuclear reactor including a vessel and vessel cover is disclosed herein. The vessel cover itself includes at least one rotatable plug which serves to perform certain position related functions within the reactor vessel and the combination seal and bearing arrangement is provided for sealing the annular opening around the rotation plug while, at the same time, providing a bearing support for the latter

Mechanical Seals, Third Edition is a source of practical information on the design and use of mechanical seals. Topics range from design fundamentals and test rigs to leakage, wear, friction and power, reliability, and special designs. This text is comprised of nine chapters; the first of which gives a general overview of seals, including various types of seals and their applications. Attention then turns to the fundamentals of seal design, with emphasis on six requirements that must be considered: sealing effectiveness, length of life, reliability, power consumption, space requirements, and c

In the past bitumen was a preferred matrix for the embedding of low and intermediate level radioactive waste: its geological history promised long term stability in final repositories. A great variety of waste has been embedded: technological waste, spent ion exchange resins, concrete, rubble, etc. Liquid waste like evaporator concentrates can be dried and embedded simultaneously in extruders, allowing simple processes and equipment. Unfortunately, during long term intermediate storage the bituminized waste drums proved out being not as stable as expected: a significant number turned out to be no longer acceptable for final disposal, and some of them even needed repacking to enable further intermediate storage. A method to rework such drums with bituminized radioactive waste seems to be urgently needed. Pyrolysis and pyro-hydrolysis (= pyrolysis with water steam added) have a long history for the treatment of organic waste: spent solvent (TBP), spent ion exchange resins, alpha waste (predominantly PVC), etc. Due to its low process temperature and the endothermic character, such processes offer significant safety advantages, as compared to incineration or dissolving in organic solvents. Results of lab-scale investigations and concepts for facilities are presented. (authors)

Security for a package or verifying seal in plastic material is provided by a print seal with unique thermally produced imprints in the plastic. If tampering is attempted, the material is irreparably damaged and thus detectable. The pattern of the imprints, similar to "fingerprints" are recorded as a positive identification for the seal, and corresponding recordings made to allow comparison. The integrity of the seal is proved by the comparison of imprint identification records made by laser beam projection.

A nuclear reactor is described which is cooled with a liquid metal and, in particular, the seal for such a nuclear reactor is described. The nuclear reactor includes a vessel, which is closed at the top by a top closure. The top closure consists of a least two components, one of which can rotate. There is an annular gap between the two components. The sealing system in the annular gap consists of at least a first and a second seal which can expand, which are situated in series in the top part of the annular gap. The system also includes an immersed seal: this is arranged in a body made of insulating material. The insulating material body is situated on the underside of the top closure. The immersed seal includes a trough at the lower end of one of the components and a sealing edge, which hangs from the other component and extends downwards into the trough. There is a liquid metal bath in the trough, into which part of the sealing edge projects. The sealing edge has at least one opening above the liquid metal bath. This permits a flow connection between the two spaces on the two sides of the sealing edge, i.e. the space between the immersed seal and the expanding seals on the one hand and the protective gas space within the vessel on the other hand. Further, there is a device by which flushing gas can be introduced into the annular gap between the expanding seals and the sealing edge. The flushing gas is provided to a sufficient extent, so that diffusion of radiaoctive protective gas and sodium vapour upwards to the expanding seals is considerably reduced. The flushing gas mixes with the protective gas in the reactor vessel and can be tapped off there, whereupon it is reprocessed and returned to the vessel. (orig.) [de

The formation and properties of ceramic seals for SOFC applications prepared by polymer pyrolysis are investigated. A mixture with polymethylsiloxane and fillers are pyrolyzed in a N2 atmosphere. The coefficient of thermal expansion of the ceramic composites was controlled by fillers with a high coefficient of thermal expansion such as AlCo. The morphology of the ceramic composites derived from the mixture with polymethylsiloxane and fillers is composed of fillers embedded in a Si-O-C glass matrix. The thermal expansion behavior and sealing characteristics are measured and discussed

Object: To provide a seal plug cover with a gripping portion fitted to a canning machine and a gripping portion fitted to a gripper of the same configuration as a fuel body for handling the fuel body so as to facilitate the handling work. Structure: A sealed can comprises a vessel and a seal plug cover, said cover being substantially in the form of a bottomed cylinder, which is slipped on the vessel and air-tightly secured by a fastening bolt between it and a flange. The spent fuel body is received into the vessel together with coolant during the step of canning operation. Said seal plug cover has two gripping portions, one for opening and closing the plug cover of the canning machine as an exclusive use member, the other being in the form of a hook-shaped peripheral groove, whereby the gripping portions may be effectively used using the same gripper when the spent fuel body is transported while being received in the sealed can or when the fuel body is removed from the sealed can. (Kawakami, Y.)

In Unit 3 and 4 of the Paks Nuclear Power Plant, Hungary, KNI type seals are used as lead-throughs with conical nickel sealing rings. Their failure can be critical for the operation of the reactor. An Acoustical Leak Detection System (ALDS) was constructed and tested for the operational testing of the seals. Some individual papers are presented in this collection on the calibration and testing of the ALDS intended to be placed on the top of the reactor vessels. The papers include simulation measurements of Unit 3 of NPP, laboratory experiments, evaluation of measurements, and further development needs with the ALDS. (R.P.) 50 figs.; 19 tabs

The application of laser pyrolysis techniques to the problems of chemical analysis is discussed. The processes occurring during laser pyrolysis are first briefly reviewed. The problems encountered in laser pyrolysis gas chromatography are discussed using the analysis of phenanthrene and binary hydrocarbons. The application of this technique to the characterization of naturally occurring carbonaceous material such as oil shales and coal is illustrated

A device is provided for sealing an inner tube and an outer tube without excessively deforming the tubes. The device includes two ferrules which cooperate to form a vacuum-tight seal between the inner tube and outer tube and having mating surfaces such that overtightening is not possible. 3 figs.

Containment/Surveillance (C/S) measures are critical to any verification regime in order to maintain Continuity of Knowledge (CoK). The Ceramic Seal project is research into the next generation technologies to advance C/S, in particular improving security and efficiency. The Ceramic Seal is a small form factor loop seal with improved tamper-indication including a frangible seal body, tamper planes, external coatings, and electronic monitoring of the seal body integrity. It improves efficiency through a self-securing wire and in-situ verification with a handheld reader. Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) and Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL), under sponsorship from the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Research and Development (DNN R&D), have previously designed and have now fabricated and tested Ceramic Seals. Tests have occurred at both SNL and SRNL, with different types of tests occurring at each facility. This interim report will describe the Ceramic Seal prototype, the design and development of a handheld standalone reader and an interface to a data acquisition system, fabrication of the seals, and results of initial testing.

A device is provided for sealing an inner tube and an outer tube without excessively deforming the tubes. The device includes two ferrules which cooperate to form a vacuum-tight seal between the inner tube and outer tube and having mating surfaces such that overtightening is not possible.

A sealing device for minimising the leakage of toxic or radioactive contaminated environments through a biological shield along an opening through which a flexible component moves that penetrates the shield. The sealing device comprises an outer tubular member which extends over a length not less than the maximum longitudinal movement of the component along the opening. An inner sealing block is located intermediate the length of the component by connectors and is positioned in the bore of the outer tubular member to slide in the bore and effect a seal over the entire longitudinal movement of the component. The cross-section of the device may be circular and the block may be of polytetrafluoroethylene or of nylon impregnated with molybdenum or may be metallic. A number of the sealing devices may be combined into an assembly for a plurality of adjacent longitudinally movable components, each adapted to sustain a tensile load, providing the various drives of a master-slave manipulator. (author)

This paper reports on the development of laboratory and production seal analyzer that offers a rapid, nondestructive method of assuring the seal integrity of virtually any type of single or double sealed container. The system can test a broad range of metal cans, drums and trays, membrane-lidded vessels, flexible pouches, aerosol containers, and glass or metal containers with twist-top lids that are used in the chemical/pesticide (hazardous materials/waste), beverage, food, medical and pharmaceutical industries

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Database of seal counts from aerial photography. Counts by image, site, species, and date are stored in the database along with information on entanglements and...

Christmas seals, i. e., special stamps used to decorate or seal Christmas and New Year's mail, were created by the Danish post office clerk E. Holboell. The proceeds from the sale of the stickers were meant to alleviate the suffering of children sick with tuberculosis. The first Christmas seal, showing a portrait of Queen Louise of Denmark, was issued on December 10, 1904. The demand at the post office was enormous. The funds raised exceeded all expectations and made it possible to finance the construction of a sanatorium for tuberculosis children. The idea of Christmas seals spread quickly around the world and ended up being copied in 130 countries. At the beginning of the 20 (th) century, the small stamp with the red double-barred cross became a banner for the crusade against tuberculosis. For many patients, it also represented a symbol of hope for recovery even though this hope, given the cure rates of a sanatorium treatment, only became a reality for a few. Worldwide, Christmas seals were and are colourful and imaginatively designed, mostly with Christmas symbols or motives relating to the fight against tuberculosis. The funds raised through the sale of the seals initially helped to build hospitals and were later also used to screen persons at risk for tuberculosis, to improve housing conditions of patients and for other measures of support. With the decrease of tuberculosis, some organisations discontinued fundraising through Christmas seals while others widened their intended purpose and supported, for example, the prevention of and research on lung diseases. In Germany, Christmas seals are closely connected with the German Central Committee against Tuberculosis. Today the "Kuratorium Tuberkulose in der Welt" is the only organisation in this country that still raises funds by this means. The funds are mostly used to assist developing countries with a high burden of tuberculosis.

Quebec accounts for nearly 25 per cent of swine production in Canada. The issue of swine manure is addressed through land spreading and conversion into fertilizer. However, current regulations restrict the use of swine manure as fertilizer on most farmlands due to the problem of surplus phosphorus and nitrogen. Although many technologies exist to separate phosphorus and nitrogen from the organic-rich dry matter in swine manure, about 40 per cent of the treated waste matter must still be disposed in an environmentally sound manner. This study investigated the technical feasibility of pretreating the swine manure solids into biofuels on a farm-scale basis using vacuum pyrolysis process. A custom built stainless steel pressure vessel was used to carry out pyrolysis reaction of swine manure biomass at a temperature range between 200 to 600 degrees C under vacuum. The pyrolytic vapour was condensed in 2 glass condensers in series. The biochar was collected directly from the pyrolysisvessel following completion of the pyrolysis batch. The non condensable vapour and gases were considered as losses. Biochar, bio-oil, an aqueous phase and a gas mixture were the 4 products of the pyrolysis process. A thermogravimetric analysis of the swine manure samples was conducted before the pyrolysis tests. The study showed that 238 degrees C is the optimal pyrolysis temperature for biochar production.

Progress on the direct mass spectrometric sampling of pyrolysis products from wood and its constituents is described for the period from June 1982 to February 1983. A brief summary and references to detailed reports, of the qualitative demonstration of our approach to the study of the separated processes of primary and secondary pyrolysis is presented. Improvements and additions to the pyrolysis and data acquisition systems are discussed and typical results shown. Chief of these are a heated-grid pyrolysis system for controlled primary pyrolysis and a sheathed flame arrangement for secondary cracking studies. Qualitative results of the secondary cracking of cellulose, lignin, and wood are shown as are comparisons with the literature for the pyrolysis spectra of cellulose, lignin, and levoglucosan. 'Fingerprints' for a number of materials are shown, with spectra taken under carefully controlled conditions so that sensitivity calibrations for different compounds, now being determined, can be applied.

The fuels used in industry and power sector for the last two decades have become expensive. As a result renewable energy source have been emerging increasingly important, of these, biomass appears to be the most applicable in the near future. The pyrolysis of biomass plays a key role amongst the three major and important process generally encountered in a gas producer, namely, pyrolysis, combustion and reduction of combustion products. Each biomass has its own pyrolysis characteristics and this important parameters must be known for the proper design and efficient operation of a gasification system. Thermogravimetric analysis has been widely used to study the devolatilization of solid fuels, such as biomass. It provides the weight loss history of a sample heated at a predetermined rate as a function of time and temperature. This paper presents the experimental results of modelling the weight loss curves of the main biomass components i.e. cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. Thermogravimetric analysis of main components of biomass showed that pyrolysis is first order reaction. Furthermore pyrolysis of cellulose and hemicelluloe can be regarded as taking place in two stages, for while lignin pyrolysis is a single stage process. This paper also describes the Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) technique to predict the weight retained during pyrolysis at any temperature, for number of biomass species, such as cotton stalk, bagasse ad graoundnut shell. (author)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains data for vessels that are greater than five net tons and have a current US Coast Guard documentation number. Beginning in1979, the NMFS...

Full Text Available The paper presents a review of relevant literature on coal pyrolysis.Pyrolysis, as a process technology, has received considerable attention from many researchers because it is an important intermediate stage in coal conversion.Reactions parameters as the temperature, pressure, coal particle size, heating rate, soak time, type of reactor, etc. determine the total carbon conversion and the transport of volatiles and therebythe product distribution. Part of the possible environmental pollutants could be removed by optimising the pyrolysis conditions. Therefore, this process will be subsequently interesting for coal utilization in the future

In a continuous process for recovery of values contained in a solid carbonaceous material, the carbonaceous material is comminuted and then subjected to flash pyrolysis in the presence of a particulate heat source fed over an overflow weir to form a pyrolysis product stream containing a carbon containing solid residue and volatilized hydrocarbons. After the carbon containing solid residue is separated from the pyrolysis product stream, values are obtained by condensing volatilized hydrocarbons. The particulate source of heat is formed by oxidizing carbon in the solid residue.

In a continuous process for recovery of values contained in a solid carbonaceous material, the carbonaceous material is comminuted and then subjected to flash pyrolysis in the presence of a particulate heat source over an overflow weir to form a pyrolysis product stream containing a carbon containing solid residue and volatilized hydrocarbons. After the carbon containing solid residue is separated from the pyrolysis product stream, values are obtained by condensing volatilized hydrocarbons. The particulate source of heat is formed by oxidizing carbon in the solid residue and separating out the fines.

Pyrolysis and gasification include processes that thermally convert carbonaceous materials into products such as gas, char, coke, ash, and tar. Overall, pyrolysis generates products like gas, tar, and char, while gasification converts the carboncontaining materials (e.g. the outputs from pyrolysis...... may often be described as gasification only. Pyrolysis, however, can also be employed without proceeding with gasification. Gasification is by no means a novel process; in the 19th century so-called ‘town gas’ was produced by the gasification of coal and for example used for illumination purposes....... In Europe during World War II, wood-fueled gasifiers (or ‘gas generators’) were used to power cars during shortages of oil-based fuels. Sparked by oil price crises in 1970s and 1980s, further development in gasification technologies focused mainly on coal as a fuel to substitute for oil-based products...

Full Text Available Tidewater glacial fjords in Alaska provide habitat for some of the largest aggregations of harbor seals (Phoca vitulina, with calved ice serving as platforms for birthing and nursing pups, molting, and resting. These fjords have also been popular destinations for tour ships for more than a century, with dramatic increases in vessel traffic since the 1980s. Seals on ice are known to flush into the water when approached by tour ships, but estimating the exposure to disturbance across populations is difficult. Using aerial transect sampling while simultaneously tracking vessel movements, we estimated the spatial overlap between seals on ice and cruise ships in Disenchantment Bay, Alaska, USA. By integrating previously estimated rates of disturbance as a function of distance with an 'intensity surface' modeled spatially from seal locations in the surveys, we calculated probabilities of seals flushing during three separate ship visits. By combining our estimate of seals flushed with a modeled estimate of the total fjord population, we predict that up to 14% of the seals (up to 11% of pups hauled out would have flushed into the water, depending on the route taken by ships relative to seal aggregations. Such high potential for broad-scale disturbance by single vessels (when up to 4 ships visit per day was unexpected and underscores the need to 1 better understand long-term effects of disturbance; 2 regularly monitor populations exposed to high vessel traffic; and 3 develop conservation measures to reduce seal-ship overlap.

The present invention provides, among other thing, methods for creating significantly deoxygenated bio-oils form biomass including the steps of providing a feedstock, associating the feedstock with an alkali formate to form a treated feedstock, dewatering the treated feedstock, heating the dewatered treated feedstock to form a vapor product, and condensing the vapor product to form a pyrolysis oil, wherein the pyrolysis oil contains less than 30% oxygen by weight.

A pressure vessel includes a pump having a passage that extends between an inlet and an outlet. A duct at the pump outlet includes at least one dimension that is adjustable to facilitate forming a dynamic seal that limits backflow of gas through the passage.

Pyrolysis oil produced from biomass is a promising renewable alternative to crude oil. Such pyrolysis oil has transportation, storage, and processing benefits, none of which are offered by the bulky, inhomogeneous solid biomass from which it originates. However, pyrolysis oil has both a different

A pressure vessel enclosure is described comprising a primary pressure vessel, a first pressure vessel containment assembly adapted to enclose said primary pressure vessel and be spaced apart therefrom, a first upper pressure vessel jacket adapted to enclose the upper half of said first pressure vessel containment assembly and be spaced apart therefrom, said upper pressure vessel jacket having an upper rim and a lower rim, each of said rims connected in a slidable relationship to the outer surface of said first pressure vessel containment assembly, mean for connecting in a sealable relationship said upper rim of said first upper pressure vessel jacket to the outer surface of said first pressure vessel containment assembly, means for connecting in a sealable relationship said lower rim of said first upper pressure vessel jacket to the outer surface of said first pressure vessel containment assembly, a first lower pressure vessel jacket adapted to enclose the lower half of said first pressure vessel containment assembly and be spaced apart therefrom, said lower pressure vessel jacket having an upper rim connected in a slidable relationship to the outer surface of said first pressure vessel containment assembly, and means for connecting in a sealable relationship said upper rim of said first lower pressure vessel jacket to the outer surface of said first pressure vessel containment assembly, a second upper pressure vessel jacket adapted to enclose said first upper pressure vessel jacket and be spaced apart therefrom, said second upper pressure vessel jacket having an upper rim and a lower rim, each of said rims adapted to slidably engage the outer surface of said first upper pressure vessel jacket, means for sealing said rims, a second lower pressure vessel jacket adapted to enclose said first lower pressure vessel jacket and be spaced apart therefrom

In this study, pinewood has been pyrolyzed using a fixed heating rate with a variable end-temperature. The pyrolysis process has been simulated using a mechanism with three parallel reactions for the formation of char, gas and tar. First order irreversible kinetics is assumed. This kind of model...... may predict the variation of product yield with operating conditions such as temperature and heating rate. The system of coupled differential equations describing the pyrolysis process is solved using the software DYMOLA. Various literature values for kinetic parameters have been compared...

This study deals with pyrolysis of tetra pak which is widely used as an aseptic beverage packaging material. Pyrolysis experiments were carried out under inert atmosphere in a batch reactor at different temperatures and by different pyrolysis modes (one- and two-step). The yields of char, liquid and gas were quantified. Pyrolysis liquids produced were collected as three separate phases; aqueous phase, tar and polyethylene wax. Characterization of wax and the determination of the total amount of phenols in aqueous phase were performed. Chemical compositions of gas and char products relevant to fuel applications were determined. Pure aluminum can be also recovered by pyrolysis.

An improved mechanical seal assembly is provided for sealing rotating shafts with respect to their shaft housings, wherein the rotating shafts are subject to substantial axial vibrations. The mechanical seal assembly generally includes a rotating sealing ring fixed to the shaft, a non-rotating sealing ring adjacent to and in close contact with the rotating sealing ring for forming an annular seal about the shaft, and a mechanical diode element that applies a biasing force to the non-rotating sealing ring by means of hemispherical joint. The alignment of the mechanical diode with respect to the sealing rings is maintained by a series of linear bearings positioned axially along a desired length of the mechanical diode. Alternative embodiments include mechanical or hydraulic amplification components for amplifying axial displacement of the non-rotating sealing ring and transferring it to the mechanical diode.

An improved mechanical seal assembly is provided for sealing rotating shafts with respect to their shaft housings, wherein the rotating shafts are subject to substantial axial vibrations. The mechanical seal assembly generally includes a rotating sealing ring fixed to the shaft, a non-rotating sealing ring adjacent to and in close contact with the rotating sealing ring for forming an annular seal about the shaft, and a mechanical diode element that applies a biasing force to the non-rotating sealing ring by means of hemispherical joint. The alignment of the mechanical diode with respect to the sealing rings is maintained by a series of linear bearings positioned axially along a desired length of the mechanical diode. Alternative embodiments include mechanical or hydraulic amplification components for amplifying axial displacement of the non-rotating sealing ring and transferring it to the mechanical diode.

This report presents the results from a study of various sealing alternatives for the WIPP sealing system. Overall, the sealing system has the purpose of reducing to the extent possible the potential for fluids (either gas or liquid) from entering or leaving the repository. The sealing system is divided into three subsystems: drift and panel seals within the repository horizon, shaft seals in each of the four shafts, and borehole seals. Alternatives to the baseline configuration for the WIPP seal system design included evaluating different geometries and schedules for seal component installations and the use of different materials for seal components. Order-of-magnitude costs for the various alternatives were prepared as part of the study. Firm recommendations are not presented, but the advantages and disadvantages of the alternatives are discussed. Technical information deficiencies are identified and studies are outlined which can provide required information

Full Text Available Bioenergy is now accepted as having the potential to provide the major part of the projected renewable energy provisions of the future. Fast pyrolysis is one of the three main thermal routes, with gasification and combustion, to providing a useful and valuable biofuel. It is one of the most recent renewable energy processes to have been introduced and offers the advantages of a liquid product bio-oil that can be readily stored and trans ported, and used as a fuel, an energy carrier and a source of chemicals. Fast pyrolysis has now achieved commercial success for production of some chemicals, liquid fuel and electricity. Bio-oils have been success fully tested in engines turbines and boilers, and have been upgraded to high quality hydrocarbon fuels although at a presently unacceptable energetic and financial cost. This review concentrates on the technology of pyrolysis and applications for the liquid product. The basic pyrolysis process and the characteristics of the main liquid product bio-oil are first summarized followed by a review of applications for bio-oil. The main technical and non-technical barriers to implementation are identified.

Pyrolysis is formally defined as chemical decomposition induced in organic materials by heat in the absence of oxygen. In practice, it is not possible to achieve a completely oxygen-free atmosphere; actual pyrolytic systems are operated with less than stoichiometric quantities of...

The experimental plans and timing for completion of the mechanical seal program for both the slurry and transfer pumps are given. The slurry pump seal program will be completed by April 1984 with turnover of two seals in pumps to SRP Tank 15H. Transfer pump seal design will be released for plant use by May 1984. Also included are various other pump and seal related tests

The surveillance capsule is composed by the support, three capsules for impact test tubes, five capsules for tension test tubes and one porta dosemeters. The capsules for test tubes are of two types: rectangular capsule for Charpy test tubes and cylindrical capsule for tension test tubes. This work describes the development of the welding system to seal the capsules for test tubes that should contain helium of ultra high purity to a pressure of 1 atmosphere. (Author)

The role of the research vessels as a tool for marine research and exploration is very important. Technical requirements of a suitable vessel and the laboratories needed on board are discussed. The history and the research work carried out...

A nuclear reactor containment arrangement is described including: a. a reactor vessel which thermally expands and contracts during cyclic operation of the reactor and which has a peripheral wall; b. a containment wall spaced apart from and surrounding the peripheral wall of the reactor vessel and defining an annular thermal expansion gap therebetween for accommodating thermal expansion; and c. an annular ring seal which sealingly engages and is affixed to and extends between the peripheral wall of the reactor vessel and the containment wall

This invention discloses a process and apparatus for pyrolyzing particulate coal by heating with a particulate solid heating media in a transport reactor. The invention tends to dampen fluctuations in the flow of heating media upstream of the pyrolysis zone, and by so doing forms a substantially continuous and substantially uniform annular column of heating media flowing downwardly along the inside diameter of the reactor. The invention is particularly useful for bituminous or agglomerative type coals.

Inside this work the optimization of two welding systems is described, as well as the conclusion of a system for the qualification of containers sealing in the National Institute of Nuclear Research that have application in the surveillance programs of nuclear reactors vessels and the correspondent extension of the operation license. The test tubes Charpy are assay to evaluate the embrittlement grade, when obtaining the increment in the reference temperature and the decrease of the absorbed maximum energy, in the transition curve fragile-ductile of the material. After the test two test tube halves are obtained that should take advantage to follow the surveillance of the vessel and their possible operation extension, this is achieved by means of rebuilding (being obtained of a tested test tube two reconstituted test tubes). The welding system for the rebuilding of test tubes Charpy, was optimized when diminishing the union force at solder, achieving the elimination of the rejection for penetration lack for spill. For this work temperature measurements were carried out at different distances of the welding interface from 1 up to 12 mm, obtaining temperature profiles. With the maximum temperatures were obtained a graph and equation that represents the maximum temperature regarding the distance of the interface, giving as a result practical the elimination of other temperature measurements. The reconstituted test tubes were introduced inside pressurized containers with helium of ultra high purity to 1 pressure atmosphere. This process was carried out in the welding system for containers sealing, where an automatic process was implemented by means of an application developed in the program LabVIEW, reducing operation times and allowing the remote control of the process, the acquisition parameters as well as the generation of welding reports, avoiding with this the human error. (Author)

An advanced controlled air pyrolysis incinerator has been researched, developed and placed into commercial operation for both radioactive and other combustible wastes. Engineering efforts cocentrated on providing an incinerator which emitted a clean, easily treatable off-gas and which produced a minimum amount of secondary waste. Feed material is continuously fed by gravity into the system's pyrolysis chamber without sorting, shredding, or other such pretreatment. Metal objects, liquids such as oil and gasoline, or solid products such as resins, blocks of plastic, tire, animal carcasses, or compacted trash may be included along with normal processed waste. The temperature of the waste is very gradually increased in a reduced oxygen atmosphere. Volatile pyrolysis gases are produced, tar-like substances are cracked and the resulting product, a relatively uniform, easily burnable material, is introduced into the combustion chamber. Steady burning is thus accomplished under easily controlled excess air conditions with the off-gasthen passing through a simple dry clean-up system. Gas temperatures are then reduced by air dilution before passing through final HEPA filters. Both commercial and nuclear installations have been operated with the most recent application being the central incinerator to service West Germany's nuclear reactors

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — FTT proposes development of a magnetically actuated dynamic seal. Dynamic seals are used throughout the turbopump in high-performance, pump-fed, liquid rocket...

This study evaluates the use of seal coating as a method to protect bituminous pavements from oxidation, water infiltration, and raveling. The Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) applied seal coating to a roadway segment of Trunk Highway ...

This invention is a magnetically actuated seal in which either a single electromagnet, or multiple electromagnets, are used to control the seal's position. This system can either be an open/ close type of system or an actively controlled system.

Wood waste pyrolysis oil is an attractive fuel alternative for diesel engine operation. The main benefit is the sustainability of the fuel. No fossil reserves are consumed. The fact that wood waste pyrolysis oil does not contribute to CO{sub 2} emissions is of utmost importance. This means that power plants utilising pyrolysis oil do not cause additional global warming. Equally important is the reduced sulphur emissions that this fuel alternative implies. The sulphur content of pyrolysis oil is extremely low. The high water content and low heating value are also expected to result in very low NO{sub x} emissions. Utilisation of wood waste pyrolysis oil in diesel engines, however, involves a lot of challenges and problems to be solved. The low heating value requires a new injection system with high capacity. The corrosive characteristics of the fluid also underline the need for new injection equipment materials. Wood waste pyrolysis oil contains solid particles which can clog filters and cause abrasive wear. Wood waste pyrolysis oil has proven to have extremely bad ignition properties. The development of a reliable injection system which is able to cope with such a fuel involves a lot of optimisation tests, redesign and innovative solutions. Successful single-cylinder tests have already been performed and they have verified that diesel operation on wood pyrolysis oil is technically possible. (orig.)

Successful sealing usually requires much more than initial leak-tightness. Friction and wear must also be acceptable, requiring a good understanding of tribology at the sealing interface. This paper describes various sealing solutions for severe service conditions. The CAN2A and CAN8 rotary face seals use tungsten carbide against carbon-graphite to achieve low leakage and long lifetime in nuclear main coolant pumps. The smaller CAN6 seal successfully uses tungsten carbide against silicon carbide in reactor water cleanup pump service. Where friction in CANDU fuelling machine rams must be essentially zero, a hydrostatic seal using two silicon carbide faces is the solution. In the NRU reactor moderator pumps, where pressure is much lower, eccentric seals that prevent boiling at the seal faces are giving excellent service. All these rotary face seals rely on supplementary elastomer seals between their parts. An integrated engineering approach to high performance sealing with O-rings is described. This is epitomized in critical Space Shuttle applications, but is increasingly being applied in CANDU plants. It includes gland design, selection and qualification of material, quality assurance, detection of defects and the effects of lubrication, surface finish, squeeze, stretch and volume constraints. In conclusion, for the severe service applications described, customized solutions have more than paid for themselves by higher reliability, lower maintenance requirements and reduced outage time. (author)

In relation to reactor primary coolant pumps, mechanical seal assembly for a pump shaft is disclosed which features a rotating seal ring mounting system which utilizes a rigid support ring loaded through narrow annular projections in combination with centering non-sealing O-rings which effectively isolate the rotating seal ring from temperature and pressure transients while securely positioning the ring to adjacent parts. A stationary seal ring mounting configuration allows the stationary seal ring freedom of motion to follow shaft axial movement up to 3/4 of an inch and shaft tilt about the pump axis without any change in the hydraulic or pressure loading on the stationary seal ring or its carrier. (author)

Highlights: • Different TIG and Laser welding techniques are tested. • Twin spot laser welding techniques is the best. • Limited heat input gives a stable weld pool in all positions. • Penetrations is achieved. • Lip seal welding and cutting with a robotic arm is successfully performed on a representative mock-up. - Abstract: The welded lip seals form part of the torus primary vacuum boundary in between the port plugs and the vacuum vessel, and are classified as Protection Important Component. In order to refurbish the port plugs or the in-vessel components, port plugs have to be removed from the machine. The lip seal design must enable up to ten opening of the vacuum vessel during the life time operation of the ITER machine. Therefore proven, remote reliable cutting and re-welding are essential, as these operations need to be performed in the port cells in a nuclear environment, where human presence will be restricted. Moreover, the combination of size of the components to be welded (∼10 m long vacuum compatible thin welds) and the congested environment close to the core of the machine constraint the type and size of tools to be used. This paper describes the lip seal cutting and welding development programme performed at the VTT Technical Research Centre, Finland. Potential cutting and welding techniques are analyzed and compared. The development of the cutting, TIG and laser welding techniques on samples are presented. Effects of lip seal misalignments and optimization of the 2 welding processes are discussed. Finally, the manufacturing and test of the two 1.2 m × 1 m representative mock-ups are presented. The set-up and use of a robotic arm for the mock-up cutting and welding operations are also described.

The invention concerns a flexible metal ring seal, able to ensure a perfect seal between two bearings due to the crushing and elastic deformation properties akin to similar properties in elastomers. Various designs of seal of this kind are already known, particularly a seal made of a core formed by a helical wire spring with close-wound turns and with high axial compression ratio, closed on itself and having the shape of an annulus. This wire ring is surrounded by at least one envelope having at rest the shape of a toroidal surface of which the generating circle does not close on itself. In a particular design mode, the seal in question can include, around the internal spring, two envelopes of which one in contact with the spring is composed of a low ductility elastic metal, such as mild steel or stainless steel and the other is, on the contrary, made of a malleable metal, such as copper or nickel. The first envelope evenly distributes the partial crushing of the spring, when the seal is tightened, on the second envelope which closely fits the two surfaces between which the seal operates. The stress-crushing curve characteristic of the seal comprises two separate parts, the first with a relatively sharp slope corresponds to the start of the seal compression phase, enabling at least some of these curves to reach the requisite seal threshold very quickly, then, beyond this, a second part, practically flat, where the stress is appreciably constant for a wide operating bracket [fr

Vessels containing zeolites and absorbed fission products from processing accident-generated water at Three Mile Island through the Submerged Demineralizer System were found to generate radiolytic hydrogen and oxygen gases. In some vessels with high curie contents, gas generation during shipment could have resulted in flammable gas concentrations exceeding federal limits for radioactive material shipments. Tests of a catalyst bed in the vessel demonstrated that recombination of the gases back into water would permit safe shipment of the sealedvessels. Catalyst was loaded into an available screen assembly in each vessel. Vessel pressure monitoring ensured that net gas generation had stopped and that hydrogen and oxygen concentrations were kept below flammable limits. All shipments complied with federal regulations

The compliant metallic seal combines the noncontact feature of the labyrinth seal, the low leakage of a mechanical seal, and the compliant nature of the brush seal. It consists of several thin metallic elements or leaves mounted within a ring which is press fit into the housing, and in form, sort of resembles a lip seal sections wiping the shaft. A second set of overlapping cover leaves are placed on top of the shaft riding leaves which reduces leakage and provides stiffness. The leaves can be straight or angle cut. The shaft riding fingers are designed with mismatched curvature to provide lift off similar to the Rayleigh lift pads in mechanical seals with leading edge clearances nearly twice those of the trailing edge as as shown by Fleming to be optimal for gas flows in convergent seal passages. Leading edge clearances range from 300 to 500 microinches. Balance pockets beneath the leaves provide fluid film feed to the 'Rayleigh lift' surface and the proper balance ratio (mechanical seal) when combined with the static pressure and film pressure. The leaves flex in the radial direction and accommodate thermomechanical behavior as well as axial motion and angular misalignment. In the static mode, there is a net closing force on the leaves. The seals were tested to 70 psi at speeds to 16,000 rpm or surface speeds to 330 fps and temperatures from ambient to 440 F. A slow cycle through the rig critical at 10,000 rpm induced a radial vibration response of 0.004 to 0.005 inch were accommodated by the seal. Preliminary performance data are encouraging demonstrating hydrodynamic liftoff and noncontacting operation at pressure and speeds typical of gas turbine engines. The leakage performance data are significantly better than commercial labyrinth and brush seals which should be expected as this design incorporates the features of the low leakage face or mechanical seal along with the flexibility of the brush configuration.

An improved liquid-metal dip seal for sealing the annulus between rotating plugs in the reactor vessel head of a liquid-metal fast-breeder nuclear reactor has two legs of differing widths communicating under a seal blade; the wide leg is also in communication with cover gas of the reactor and the narrow leg is also in communication with an isolated plug annulus above the seal. The annulus contains inert gas which acts as a pneumatic spring. Upon increasing cover gas pressure which depresses the level in the wide leg and greatly increases the level in the narrow leg, the pneumatic spring is compressed, and resists further level changes, thus preventing radioactive cover gas from bubbling through the seal

In the seal literature you can find many attempts by various researchers to adapt film riding seals to the gas turbine engine. None have been successful, potential distortion of the sealing faces is the primary reason. There is a film riding device that does accommodate distortion and is in service in aircraft applications, namely the foil bearing. More specifically a foil thrust bearing. These are not intended to be seals, and they do not accommodate large axial movement between shaft & static structure. By combining the 2 a unique type of face seal has been created. It functions like a normal face seal. The foil thrust bearing replaces the normal primary sealing surface. The compliance of the foil bearing allows the foils to track distortion of the mating seal ring. The foil seal has several perceived advantages over existing hydrodynamic designs, enumerated in the chart. Materials and design methodology needed for this application already exist. Also the load capacity requirements for the foil bearing are low since it only needs to support itself and overcome friction forces at the antirotation keys.

An automated system for transporting nuclear fuel elements between fuel element assembly stations without contaminating the area outside the sealed assembly stations is described. The system comprises a plurality of assembly stations connected together by an elongated horizontal sealing mechanism and an automatic transport mechanism for transporting a nuclear fuel element in a horizontal attitude between the assembly stations while the open end of the fuel element extends through the sealing mechanism into the assembly station enclosure. The sealing mechanism allows the fuel element to be advanced by the transport mechanism while limiting the escape of radioactive particles from within the assembly station enclosure. 4 claims, 6 figures

This chapter reports on the latest developments of biomass catalytic pyrolysis for the production of fuels. The primary focus is on the role of catalysts in the process, namely, their influence in the liquefaction of lignocellulosic biomass.

Pyrolysis of corncob particles was conducted in nitrogen in an externally heated benchscale fluidized bed reactor. Test results are presented with a demonstration of their application in gasification modelling. (author).

The IAEA has developed a Sealed Radioactive Sources Toolkit to provide information to key groups about the safety and security of sealed radioactive sources. The key groups addressed are officials in government agencies, medical users, industrial users and the scrap metal industry. The general public may also benefit from an understanding of the fundamentals of radiation safety

Describes an art unit in which students sculpt a signature seal out of clay and use Chinese brush painting techniques to paint a scroll. Discusses the seal and its historical use in China. Lists materials needed and explains the procedure. (CMK)

Chain of plates embedded in flexible seal enables it to withstand side loading of 2,300 psi (116MPa) while sealing gap of up to 0.5 inch (13 mm) between cylindrical chamber wall and test fixture. Pressure-actuated seal along inner edge forces seal into contact even though cylinder wall becomes eccentric as cylinder pressure increases. Seal has many industrial applications, particularly where heat or pressure causes distortion of chamber being sealed.

A support body in the form of an insulating cylinder is tightly sealed by connected surfaces at its outer circumference to the inner wall of the pressure vessel. It forms an annular heating space. The heat treatment or tempering of the pressure vessel takes place with the reactor space empty and screened from the outside by ceiling bolts. Heating gas or an induction winding can be used as the means of heating. (DG) [de

The ultimate objective of this project was to develop a better understanding of volatiles production to help optimize the yield and character of condensable coproducts during coal pyrolysis or mild gasification. The specific objectives were to (1) Develop pyrolysis procedures that minimize secondary reactions; and (2) Develop coal pretreatments that current knowledge suggests will prorate bond scission or prevent retrograde reactions. Our approach was to study the pyrolysis of coals and tar-loaded coals by using several techniques that span a range of heating rates and pressures. Slow-heating pyrolyses were performed at low pressures in the inlet of a field ionization mass spectrometer and at atmospheric pressures in a thermogravimetric analyzer. Moderately rapid-heating pyrolyses were performed in a vacuum TGA apparatus and in sealed silica ampules heated in a molten-salt bath. The fastest heating rates were achieved with laser pyrolysis at about 30,000 X/s. The high tar yield seen in this work where the entire volume of the coal particle becomes hot and fluid at very nearly the same time, taken together with the evident non-vapor transport of the tar under these conditions, emphasizes the importance of better understanding the development of fluidity during coal heating. This specifically includes the profound effects--long-recognized but poorly understood that mild oxidation has in suppressing coal fluidity. It also includes the more recently recognized fact that heating in the presence of an inert gas produced substantially greater fluidity than does heating in the presence of combustion gases, even if the conditions are very fuel rich and all the oxygen itself has already been consumed when the coal particles are encountered.

A method for mild gasification of crushed coal in a single vertical elongated reaction vessel providing a fluidized bed reaction zone, a freeboard reaction zone, and an entrained reaction zone within the single vessel. Feed coal and gas may be fed separately to each of these reaction zones to provide different reaction temperatures and conditions in each reaction zone. The reactor and process of this invention provides for the complete utilization of a coal supply for gasification including utilization of caking and non-caking or agglomerating feeds in the same reactor. The products may be adjusted to provide significantly greater product economic value, especially with respect to desired production of char having high surface area.

Full text: Pressurized wet digestion in closed vessels, microwave assisted or with conventional conductive heating, is the most important sample preparation technique for digestion or leaching procedures in element analysis. In comparison to open vessel digestion closed vessel digestion methods have many advantages, but there is one disadvantage - complex and expensive vessel designs. A new technique - pressurized wet digestion in open vessels - combine the advantages of closed vessel sample digestion with the application of simple and cheap open vessels made of quartz or PFA. The vessels are placed in a high pressure Asher HPA, which is adapted with a Teflon liner and filled partly with water. The analytical results with 30 ml quartz vessels, 22 ml PFA vessels and 1.5 ml PIA auto sampler cups will be shown. In principle every dimensions of vessels can be used. The vessels are loaded with sample material (max. 1.5 g with quartz vessels, max. 0.5 g with PFA vessels and 50 mg with auto sampler cups) and digestion reagent. Afterwards the vessels are simply covered with PTFE stoppers and not sealed. The vessels are transferred into a special adapted HPA and digested at temperatures up to 270 o C. The digestion time is 90 min. and cooling down to room temperature 30 min. The analytical results of CRM's are within the certified values and no cross contamination and losses of volatile elements could be observed. (author)

The reactor vessel of a nuclear reactor installation which is suspended from the cold leg nozzles in a reactor cavity is provided with a lower thermal insulating barrier spaced from the reactor vessel that has a hemispherical lower section that increases in volume from the center line of the reactor to the outer extent of the diameter of the thermal insulating barrier and smoothly transitions up the side walls of the vessel. The space between the thermal insulating harrier and the reactor vessel forms a chamber which can be flooded with cooling water through passive valving to directly cool the reactor vessel in the event of a severe accident. The passive inlet valve for the cooling water includes a buoyant door that is normally maintained sealed under its own weight and floats open when the cavity is Hooded. Passively opening steam vents are also provided.

A float having an inert gas sealed therein is attached to a tightly closed vessel containing radioactive wastes. The vessel is inserted and kept in a small hole for burying the tightly closed vessel in an excavated shaft in rocks such as of granite or rock salts, while filling bentonite as shielding material therearound. In this case, the float is so adjusted that the apparent specific gravity is made equal or nearer between the tightly closed vessel and the bentonite, so that the rightly closed vessel does not sink and cause direct contact with the rocks even if bentonite flows due to earthquakes, etc. This can prevent radioactivity contamination through water in the rocks. (S.K.)

A reactor vessel (1) comprises a reactor body (2) through which channels (3) are provided whose surface comprises longitudinal inwardly directed parts (4) and is provided with a catalyst (6), as well as buffer bodies (8, 12) connected to the channels (3) on both sides of the reactor body (2) and

.... The focus during the subject period was directed to understanding the pyrolysis and combustion of endothermic fuels under subcritical conditions and the pyrolysis of these fuels under supercritical conditions...

.... The focus during the subject period was directed to understanding the pyrolysis and combustion of endothermic fuels under subcritical conditions and the pyrolysis of these fuels under supercritical conditions...

This report details the testing equipment, procedures and results performed under Task 7.2 Sealing Simulated Leaks. In terms of our ability to seal leaks identified in the technical topical report, Analysis of Current Field Data, we were 100% successful. In regards to maintaining seal integrity after pigging operations we achieved varying degrees of success. Internal Corrosion defects proved to be the most resistant to the effects of pigging while External Corrosion proved to be the least resistant. Overall, with limitations, pressure activated sealant technology would be a viable option under the right circumstances.

Because highly pressurized (15.5 MPa) and highly heated (300 .deg. C) coolant is circulated through the test rig, it needs to seal out the instrumentation feed through part. In this case, general sealing method is brazing and several works have been carried out in nuclear fields. However, because high temperature is induced on the sealing plug and sheaths, it is easy to be broken due to oxidisation of the sheath during brazing process. In addition, because the brazing process is irreversible, if the brazing process fails, the whole inner assembly should be scrapped out. Another approach which uses graphite has been studied to seal out the instrumentation feed through part. In the study, graphite sealing is considered as a sealing method and the improvement of mechanical structure has been studied to improve the workability. To check the sealing performance of the instrumentation feed through part, a hydraulic pressure test and a helium leak test were carried out according to the ASME section III. The criterion of a hydraulic pressure test is 125% of the design pressure. In this study, because the design pressure of the pressure vessel is 17.5 MPa. the sealing criterion should be 21.9 MPa. Also, in a Helium leak test, the criterion is less than 5 Χ 10 -9 torr·liter/sec. At first, a Helium leak test was carried out. After eliminating Helium in the pressure vessel by evacuating the internal area of the pressure vessel up to 1 Χ 10 -3 torr using ASM 310, Helium detection test was carried out by spraying Helium gas at the top face of the top flange for 5 minutes. Fig. 4 shows the rate of Helium leakage is 2.4 Χ 10 -9 torr·liter/sec, and it satisfies the sealing performance criterion. A hydraulic pressure test was also carried out, and there was no leakage or pressure drop when the water in the pressure vessel is pressurized up to 22.5 MPa. The above test results show that graphite powder can seal out the instrumentation feed through part easily with the improved

In this paper, we have investigated the possibilities to steer the composition and, thus, the quality of pyrolysis liquids by the reactor temperature and the pyrolysis vapor condenser temperature. Pine wood was pyrolyzed in a 1 kg/h fluidized-bed pyrolysis reactor operated at 330 or 480 °C. The

Full Text Available Fixed-bed slow pyrolysis experiments of coconut shell have been conducted to determine the effect of pyrolysis temperature, heating rate and particle size on the pyrolysis product yields. The effect of vapour residence time on the pyrolysis yield was also investigated by varying the reactor length. Pyrolysis experiments were performed at pyrolysis temperature between 400 and 600°C with a constant heating rate of 60°C/min and particle sizes of 1.18-1.80 mm. The optimum process conditions for maximizing the liquid yield from the coconut shell pyrolysis in a fixed bed reactor were also identified. The highest liquid yield was obtained at a pyrolysis temperature of 550 °C, particle size of 1.18-1.80 mm, with a heating rate of 60 °C/min in a 200 mm length reactor. The yield of obtained char, liquid and gas was 22-31 wt%, 38-44 wt% and 30-33 wt% respectively at different pyrolysis conditions. The results indicate that the effects of pyrolysis temperature and particle size on the pyrolysis yield are more significant than that of heating rate and residence time. The various characteristics of pyrolysis oil obtained under the optimum conditions for maximum liquid yield were identified on the basis of standard test methods.

Pyrolysis oil is a dark brown liquid which can be produced in high yield from different kind of biomass sources by means of fast pyrolysis. Pyrolysis oil is considered as a promising second generation energy carrier and may play an important role in the future of "biobased economies". The energy

A head for closing a nuclear reactor pressure vessel shell includes an arcuate dome having an integral head flange which includes a mating surface for sealingly mating with the shell upon assembly therewith. The head flange includes an internal passage extending therethrough with a first port being disposed on the head mating surface. A vent line includes a proximal end disposed in flow communication with the head internal passage, and a distal end disposed in flow communication with the inside of the dome for channeling a fluid therethrough. The vent line is fixedly joined to the dome and is carried therewith when the head is assembled to and disassembled from the shell.

Small venthole drilled in semisealed silicon-controlled rectifier (SCR) cavity eliminates entrapped helium. Although these devices show slightly greater leak than those before lead installation, it is now possible to distinguish device with good hermetic seal from defective one.

A seal assembly that limits gas leakage from a hot gas path to one or more disc cavities in a turbine engine. The seal assembly includes a seal apparatus that limits gas leakage from the hot gas path to a respective one of the disc cavities. The seal apparatus comprises a plurality of blade members rotatable with a blade structure. The blade members are associated with the blade structure and extend toward adjacent stationary components. Each blade member includes a leading edge and a trailing edge, the leading edge of each blade member being located circumferentially in front of the blade member's corresponding trailing edge in a direction of rotation of the turbine rotor. The blade members are arranged such that a space having a component in a circumferential direction is defined between adjacent circumferentially spaced blade members.

ECoG both hemispheres, EOG, neck EMG, ECG and electrical activity of olfactory bulbs were recorded in 4 free moving adult Caspean seals of both sexes. Their sleep on land and in water was compared. The wakefulness occupied 85,5 +/- 1,5% of total recording time, the slow wave sleep--12,8 +/- 1,4% and paradoxical sleep--1,7 +/- 0,2%. Unlike the dolphins, the Caspean seals possess no unihemispheric slow wave sleep. When the seals sleep on the land or on the water surface and do not change their posture for breathing they may breathe without awakening like the terrestrial mammals. But when the seals emerge or change their posture to get nostrils above the water they wake up briefly for respiration period.

An apparatus for sealing the annulus defined within a substantially cylindrical rotatable riser assembly and plug combination of a nuclear reactor closure head is described. The apparatus comprises an inflatable sealing mechanism disposed in one portion of the riser assembly near the annulus such that upon inflation the sealing mechanism is radially actuated against the other portion of the riser assembly thereby sealing the annulus. The apparatus further comprises a connecting mechanism which places one end of the sealing mechanism in fluid communication with the reactor cover gas so that overpressurization of the reactor cover gas will increase the radial actuation of the sealing mechanism thus enhancing sealing of the annulus

Arrangement for demountably sealing two concentric metallic tubes in an ultra high vacuum system which facilitates remote actuation. A tubular seal includes integral spaced lips which circumferentially engage the metallic tubes. The lips plastically deform the metallic tubes by mechanical forces resulting from a martensite to austenite transformation of the tubular seal upon application of a predetermined temperature. The sealing force is released upon application of another temperature which causes a transformation from the stronger austenite to the weaker martensite. Use of a dual acting sealing ring and driving ring circumferentially contacting the sealing ring is particularly applicable to sealing larger diameter concentric metallic members.

The objective of this investigation was to determine the kinetics of the primary reactions of wood pyrolysis. A new experimental method was developed which enabled us to measure the rate of gas, tar, and char production while taking into account the temperature variations during the wood heating up. The experimental method developed did not require any sophisticated instruments. It facilitated the collection of gas, tar and residue (unreacted wood and char) as well as accurate measurement of the temperature inside the wood sample. Expressions relating the kinetic parameters to the measured variables were derived. The pyrolysis kinetics was investigated in the range of 300 to 400/sup 0/C at atmospheric pressure and under nitrogen atmosphere. Reaction temperature and mass fractions of gas, tar, and residue were measured as a function of time. Assuming first-order reactions, the kinetic parameters were determined using differential method. The measured activation energies of wood pyrolysis to gas, tar, and char were 88.6, 112.7, and 106.5 kJ/mole, respectively. These kinetic data were then used to predict the yield of the various pyrolysis products. It was found that the best prediction was obtained when an integral-mean temperature obtained from the temperature-time curve was used as reaction temperature. The pyrolysis products were analyzed to investigate the influence of the pyrolysis conditions on the composition. The gas consisted mainly of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, oxygen, and C/sub 3//sup +/-compounds. The gas composition depended on reaction time as well as reactor temperature. The tar analysis indicated that the tar consisted of about seven compounds. Its major compound was believed to be levoglucosan. Elemental analysis for the char showed that the carbon content increased with increasing temperature.

A concrete containment vessel for nuclear reactors is disclosed that is spherical and that has prestressing tendons disposed in first, second and third sets, the tendons of each set being all substantially concentric and centred around a respective one of the three orthogonal axes of the sphere; the tendons of the first set being anchored at each end at a first anchor rib running around a circumference of the vessel, the tendons of the second set being anchored at each end at a second anchor rib running around a circumference of the sphere and disposed at 90 0 to the first rib, and the tendons of the third set being anchored some to the first rib and the remainder to the second rib. (author)

Titanium is prenitrided by being heated in a nitrogen environment under conditions which give rise to the formation of a titanium-nitride surface layer on the titanium. Titanium thus prenitrided may be used in electrical components which are hermetically sealed using silicate glasses and standard glass sealing techniques. According to the method of the invention, alkali volatilization and formation of deleterious interfacial silicide are inhibited.

Methods and apparatuses for preparing upgraded pyrolysis oil are provided herein. In an embodiment, a method of preparing upgraded pyrolysis oil includes providing a biomass-derived pyrolysis oil stream having an original oxygen content. The biomass-derived pyrolysis oil stream is hydrodeoxygenated under catalysis in the presence of hydrogen to form a hydrodeoxygenated pyrolysis oil stream comprising a cyclic paraffin component. At least a portion of the hydrodeoxygenated pyrolysis oil stream is dehydrogenated under catalysis to form the upgraded pyrolysis oil.

In this project VTT Energy co-ordinates the EU JOULE Project `Biofuel oil for power plants and boilers` supporting the development projects of Finnish enterprises, and participates in the Pyrolysis Project of IEA Bioenergy Agreement. Presently two pyrolysis devices with capacities of 150 g/h and 1 kg/h are used for the project. Hot gas filtering tests by using one ceramic candle equipment have been carried out with the 1 kg/h device for pyrolysis oil. The solids and alkali contents of the product oil were reduced clearly. Suitable conditions are being defined for continuous hot gas filtering. A PDU device of 20 kg/h is being commissioned. The main aim of the chemical characterisation of pyrolysis oil was to develop as simple a method as possible for differentiating pyrolysis oils and for finding correlations between the characteristics and behaviour of pyrolysis oils. Pyrolysis oils produced from various raw materials (hardwood, pine, straw) were analysed and compared with each other. VTT Energy participates in the pyrolysis network (EU/PYNE) of EU, the aim of which is to collect and disseminate research results of pyrolysis studies, i.e., through a journal with a wide circulation. VTT also participates in the pyrolysis activity of IEA (PYRA), the other partners being Great Britain, EU, Canada and the United States. I.e., quality criteria and improvement, occupational safety and pyrolysis kinetics are discussed in IEA/PYRA

Inflatable door seals are used for airlocks in CANDU stations. They have been a significant source of unreliability and maintenance cost. A program is underway to improve their performance and reliability, backed by environmental qualification testing. Only commercial products and suppliers existed in 1993. For historical reasons, these 'existing products' did not use the most durable material then available. In hindsight, neither had they been adapted nor optimized to combat conditions often experienced in the plants-sagging doors, damaged sealing surfaces, and many thousands of openings and closings per year. Initial attempts to involve the two existing suppliers in efforts to upgrade these seals were unsuccessful. Another suitable supplier had therefore to be found, and a 'new,' COG-owned seal developed; this was completed in 1997. This paper summarizes its testing, along with that of the two existing products. Resistance to aging has been improved significantly. Testing has shown that an accident can be safely withstood after 10 years of service or 40,000 openings-closings, whichever comes first. AECL's Fluid Sealing Technology Unit (FSTU) has invested in the special moulds, test fixtures and other necessary tooling and documentation required to begin commercial manufacture of this new quality product. Accordingly, as with FSTU's other nuclear products such as pump seals, the long-term supply of door seals to CANDU plants is now protected from many external uncertainties-e.g., commercial products being discontinued, materials being changed, companies going out of business. Manufacturing to AECL's detailed specifications is being subcontracted to the new supplier. FSTU is performing the quality surveillance, inspection, testing, and customer service activities concomitant with direct responsibility for supply to the plants. (author)

A device for sealing a gateway between interconnectable pools in a nuclear facility comprising a frame supporting a liquid impermeable sheet positioned in a u-shaped gateway between the pools. An inflatable tube carried in a channel in the periphery of the frame and adjoining the gateway provides a seal therebetween when inflated. A restraining arrangement on the bottom edge of the frame is releasably engagable with an adjacent portion of the gateway to restrict the movement of the frame in the u-shaped gateway upon inflation of the tube, thereby enhancing the seal. The impermeable sheet is formed of an elastomer and thus is conformable to a liquid permeable supportive wall upon application of liquid pressure to the side of the sheet opposite the wall

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains records of all individually identified Hawaiian monk seals since 1981. These seals were identified by PSD personnel and cooperating scientists...

Full Text Available In order to reduce the failure probability of rubber sealing rings in reciprocating dynamic seal, a new structure of sealing ring based on bionics was designed. The biomimetic ring has three concave ridges and convex bulges on each side which are very similar to earthworms. Bulges were circularly designed and sealing performances of the biomimetic ring in both static seal and dynamic seal were simulated by FEM. In addition, effects of precompression, medium pressure, speed, friction coefficient, and material parameters on sealing performances were discussed. The results show that von Mises stress of the biomimetic sealing ring distributed symmetrically in no-pressure static sealing. The maximum von Mises stress appears on the second bulge of the inner side. High contact stress concentrates on left bulges. Von Mises stress distribution becomes uneven under medium pressure. Both von Mises stress and contact stress increase when precompression, medium pressure, and rubber hardness increase in static sealing. Biomimetic ring can avoid rolling and distortion in reciprocating dynamic seal, and its working life is much longer than O-ring and rectangular ring. The maximum von Mises stress and contact stress increase with the precompression, medium pressure, rubber hardness, and friction coefficient in reciprocating dynamic seal.

The SEAL Carrier is a hybrid marine vessel capable of traveling both fast on the water surface and completely submerged.Due to the craft's hydrodynamical properties it is taxing on the pilots to keep the SEAL Carrier at a certain depth for longer periods of time, therefore it is desirable to have a depth controller. A model was developed to describe the forces from the actuators and the depth, pitch and speed controlled through a PI controller using a backstepping approach. The resulting cont...

A seal structure for a gas turbine engine, the seal structure including first and second components located adjacent to each other and forming a barrier between high and low pressure zones. A seal cavity is defined in the first and second components, the seal cavity extending to either side of an elongated gap extending generally in a first direction between the first and second components. A seal member is positioned within the seal cavity and spans across the elongated gap. The seal member includes first and second side edges extending into each of the components in a second direction transverse to the first direction, and opposing longitudinal edges extending between the side edges generally parallel to the first direction. The side edges include a groove formed therein for effecting a reduction of gas flow around the seal member at the side edges.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — FTT proposes development of a magnetically actuated dynamic seal. Dynamic seals are used throughout the turbopump in high-performance, pump-fed, liquid rocket...

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — FTT proposes development of a magnetically actuated dynamic seal. Dynamic seals are used throughout the turbopump in high-performance, pump-fed, liquid rocket...

Pump seal reliability continues to be an area needing improvement and ongoing vigilance. Methods have been developed for identifying and assessing factors relating to seal performance, selecting the most relevant ones for a specific station, and then focusing on the most significant aspects and how to improve. Discussion invariably addresses maintenance practices, seal design, monitoring capabilities, operating conditions, transients, and pump and motor design. Success in reliability improvement requires ongoing dialogue among the station operators, pump manufacturers and seal designers. AECL CAN-seals lead the nuclear industry in reliability and seal life. They effectively save operators millions of dollars in outage time and person-rem. This paper describes some of the significant developments in AECL's ongoing program in seal R and D, as well as recent new installations following the most demanding seal qualification programs to date. (author)

Pyrolysis is the process of molecular decomposition in an inert environment using heat. It is possible to fragment large molecules, such as polymers, by pyrolysis and separate the fragments directly in a GC. This makes it possible to form complex sample fingerprints that can be used in various applications, for example in forensic science. In this project, a malfunctioning Pyrola 85 pyrolysis unit was fixed by measuring the voltage signals from the photo diode during pyrolysis in a Labview pr...

DNA was analysed from external wounds on 3 dead harbour porpoises Phocoena phocoena that were stranded in the Netherlands. Puncture wounds as well as the edges of large open wounds were sampled with sterile cotton swabs. With specific primers that target the mtDNA control region of grey seal

in the Pyrolysis Centrifuge Reactor, a novel solid-convective flash pyrolysis reactor. The model relies on the original concept for ablative pyrolysis of particles being pyrolysed through the formation of an intermediate liquid compound which is further degraded to form liquid organics, char, and gas. To describe...

Disclosed is a system for removing impurities from the surfaces of liquid dip seals and for wetting the metal surfaces of liquid dip seals in nuclear components. The system comprises an ultrasonic transducer that transmits ultrasonic vibrations along an ultrasonic probe to the metal and liquid surfaces of the dip seal thereby loosening and removing those impurities

This invention discloses a process and apparatus for pyrolyzing particulate coal by heating with a particulate solid heating media in a transport reactor. The invention tends to dampen fluctuations in the flow of heating media upstream of the pyrolysis zone, and by so doing forms a substantially continuous and substantially uniform annular column of heating media flowing downwardly along the inside diameter of the reactor. The invention is particularly useful for bituminous or agglomerative type coals.

The invention concerns the immersed seals of nuclear reactors and specifically a maintenance system for the immersed seals of the revolving closing plugs of liquid metal breeder nuclear reactors. A liquid sodium immersed joint may be located at a given place or be surrounded by heating elements so that the sodium stays liquid whilst the reactor is working. In other cases, the sodium in the immersed seal is allowed to solidify whilst the reactor is working, thereby increasing the efficiency of the seal. At all events, the sodium must be in a liquid state during reloading with fuel to enable the plug to turn. The invention consists in fitting an ultrasonic transducer to the closure head of the reactor vessel so that the vibration emitting surface directs these vibrations towards the immersed seals so as to detach the deposits of impurities on them and ensure the wetting of the metal surfaces of which they are formed. Additionally, an envelope that can be placed around the ultrasonic transducer in conjunction with a suction appliance provides a mechanism through which the impurities can be removed from the area of the immersed seal [fr

Full Text Available Abstract The amount of plastic waste is growing every year and with that comes an environmental concern regarding this problem. Pyrolysis as a tertiary recycling process is presented as a solution. Pyrolysis can be thermal or catalytical and can be performed under different experimental conditions. These conditions affect the type and amount of product obtained. With the pyrolysis process, products can be obtained with high added value, such as fuel oils and feedstock for new products. Zeolites can be used as catalysts in catalytic pyrolysis and influence the final products obtained.

A review of the pyrolysis process of used tyre as a method of producing an alternative energy source is presented in this paper. The study reports the characteristics of used tyre materials and methods of recycling, types and principles of pyrolysis, the pyrolysis products and their composition, effects of process parameters, and kinetic models applied to pyrolysis. From publications, the proximate analysis of tyre rubber shows that it is composed of about 28.6 wt.% fixed carbon, 62 wt.% vola...

Fault tree analysis method was applied to quantitatively investigate the causes of the leakage failure of mechanical seals. It is pointed out that the change of the surface topography is the main reasons causing the leakage of mechanical seals under the condition of constant preloads. Based on the fractal geometry theory, the relationship between the surface topography and working time were investigated by experiments, and the effects of unit load acting on seal face on leakage path in a mechanical seal were analyzed. The model of predicting seal life of mechanical seals was established on the basis of the relationship between the surface topography and working time and allowable leakage. The seal life of 108 mechanical seal operating at the system of diesel fuel storage and transportation was predicted and the problem of the condition monitoring for the long-period operation of mechanical seal was discussed by this method. The research results indicate that the method of predicting seal life of mechanical seals is feasible, and also is foundation to make scheduled maintenance time and to achieve safe-reliability and low-cost operation for industrial devices.

From around 2100 BC a glyptic tradition emerges in the Arabian Gulf, which is dependant on the well-established schools of the Indus Valley seal cutters. These circular hybrids of classic Harappan seals rapidly became popular amongst the merchants of Dilmun, centered on Bahrain Island. At first...... these Gulf Type‘ seals drew heavily on Indus Valley iconography and Indus script was occasionally employed in a pidgin-like manner. While the earliest circular seals incorporate features from Mesopotamian glyptic only to a lesser extent, this becomes a more important source of inspiration for later Dilmun...... Type seals....

The present invention is a hermetic seal leak detection apparatus, which can be used to test for hermetic seal leaks in instruments and containers. A vacuum tight chamber is created around the unit being tested to minimize gas space outside of the hermetic seal. A vacuum inducing device is then used to increase the gas chamber volume inside the device, so that a slight vacuum is pulled on the unit being tested. The pressure in the unit being tested will stabilize. If the stabilized pressure reads close to a known good seal calibration, there is not a leak in the seal. If the stabilized pressure reads closer to a known bad seal calibration value, there is a leak in the seal. The speed of the plunger can be varied and by evaluating the resulting pressure change rates and final values, the leak rate/size can be accurately calculated.

A sealing construct for a space environment includes a seal-bearing object, a seal on the seal-bearing object, and a seal-engaging object. The seal includes a seal body having a sealing surface, and a textured pattern at the sealing surface, the textured pattern defining at least one shaded channel surface. The seal-engaging object is selectively engaged with the seal-bearing object through the seal. The seal-engaging object has a sealing surface, wherein, when the seal-engaging object is selectively engaged with the seal-bearing object, the sealing surface of the seal-engaging object engages the sealing surface of the seal, and the seal is compressed between the seal-bearing object and the seal-engaging object such that at least one shaded channel surface engages the sealing surface of the seal-engaging object.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Operator cards are required for any operator of a charter/party boat and or a commercial vessel (including carrier and processor vessels) issued a vessel permit from...

Full Text Available The influence of catalysts on the compositions of char and pyrolysis oil obtained by pyrolysis of wood biomass with pulse current heating was studied. The effects of catalysts on product compositions were analyzed using GC-MS and TEM. The compositions of some aromatic compounds changed noticeably when using a metal oxide species as the catalyst. The coexistence or dissolution of amorphous carbon and iron oxide was observed in char pyrolyzed at 800°C with Fe3O4. Pyrolysis oil compositions changed remarkably when formed in the presence of a catalyst compared to that obtained from the uncatalyzed pyrolysis of wood meal. We observed a tendency toward an increase in the ratio of polyaromatic hydrocarbons in the pyrolysis oil composition after catalytic pyrolysis at 800°C. Pyrolysis of biomass using pulse current heating and an adequate amount of catalyst is expected to yield a higher content of specific polyaromatic compounds.

The influence of catalysts on the compositions of char and pyrolysis oil obtained by pyrolysis of wood biomass with pulse current heating was studied. The effects of catalysts on product compositions were analyzed using GC-MS and TEM. The compositions of some aromatic compounds changed noticeably when using a metal oxide species as the catalyst. The coexistence or dissolution of amorphous carbon and iron oxide was observed in char pyrolyzed at 800°C with Fe3O4. Pyrolysis oil compositions changed remarkably when formed in the presence of a catalyst compared to that obtained from the uncatalyzed pyrolysis of wood meal. We observed a tendency toward an increase in the ratio of polyaromatic hydrocarbons in the pyrolysis oil composition after catalytic pyrolysis at 800°C. Pyrolysis of biomass using pulse current heating and an adequate amount of catalyst is expected to yield a higher content of specific polyaromatic compounds. PMID:25614894

A low- to medium-level radioactive waste sealing container is constructed by depositing a foundation coating consisting essentially of zinc, cadmium or a zinc-aluminum alloy over a steel base, then coating an organic synthetic resin paint containing a metal phosphate over the foundation coating, and thereafter coating an acryl resin, epoxy resin, and/or polyurethane paint. The sealing container can consist of a main container body, a lid placed over the main body, and fixing members for clamping and fixing the lid to the main body. Each fixing member may consist of a material obtained by depositing a coating consisting essentially of cadmium or a zinc-aluminum alloy over a steel base

As an electromagnetic shaft seal, there are disposed outwarding electromagnetic induction devices having generating power directing to an electroconductive fluid as an object of sealing, and inwarding electromagnetic induction device added coaxially. There are disposed elongate rectangular looped first coils having a predetermined inner diameter, second coils having the same shape and shifted by a predetermined pitch relative to the first coil and third coil having the same shape and shifted by a predetermined pitch relative to the second coil respectively each at a predetermined inner diameter of clearance to the outwarding electromagnetic induction devices and the inwarding electromagnetic induction device. If the inwarding electromagnetic induction device and the outwarding electromagnetic induction device are operated, they are stopped at a point that the generating power of the former is equal with the sum of the generating power of the latter and a differential pressure. When three-phase AC is charged to the first coil, the second coil and the third coil successively, a force is generated in the advancing direction of the magnetic field in the electroconductive fluid by the similar effect to that of a linear motor, and the seal is maintained at high reliability. Moreover, the limit for the rotational angle of the shaft is not caused. (N.H.)

The present invention relates to a rotor for a pyrolysis centrifuge reactor, said rotor comprising a rotor body having a longitudinal centre axis, and at least one pivotally mounted blade being adapted to pivot around a pivot axis under rotation of the rotor body around the longitudinal centre axis....... Moreover, the present invention relates to a pyrolysis centrifuge reactor applying such a rotor....

This paper provides a review of pyrolysis technologies, focusing on reactor designs and companies commercializing these technologies. The renewed interest in pyrolysis is driven by the potential to convert lignocellulosic materials into bio-oil and biochar and the use of these intermediates for the

Pyrolysis process is considered as a beneficial option in waste treatment largely due to the products generated and the energy recovery when compared to other methods. In the conventional pyrolysis process, heat is continually supplied to the reactor until the final pyrolysis temperature is attained. The reactor is then maintained isothermally at this temperature until the pyrolysis is completed. This technique does not take into consideration the mechanism of the pyrolysis which involves both exothermic and endothermic reaction and the opportunity of gaining some processing benefits is often ignored. Multi-stage pyrolysis which is an approach to carry out pyrolysis with multiple heating stages in order to gain certain processing benefits has been introduced in our earlier works. 22.5% energy reduction was achieved in our past work with a 100% increase in completion time. This work therefore proposes the optimization of the operating parameters in multi-stage pyrolysis in order to limit the increase in completion time and also reduces the overall energy. This innovative approach can achieve a range of 24.7%–37.9% reduction in energy usage with 37%–50% increase in completion time depending on the heating rate for each heating stages. This approach has also been used for charcoal production

virtual genocide. These animals, including whales, porpoises, seals, sea otters , polar bears, manatees, and others, have only rarely benefited from our...provided important biological samples for diet, and other life history studies. Since 2005, the NOAA Twin Otter has been used to conduct aerial...vessel interaction, gunshot, debris ingestion, and harassment by humans/ pets . Human Interaction cases have occurred throughout IFAW MMRR’s response

Under the auspices of the Integrated High Performance Turbine Engine Technology Initiative, the Naval Air Warfare Center conducts advanced development programs for demonstration in the next generation of air-breathing propulsion systems. Among the target technologies are gas path and lube oil seals. Two development efforts currently being managed by NAWCAD are the High Performance Compressor Discharge Film-Riding Face Seal and the Subsonic Core High Speed Air/Oil Seal. The High Performance Compressor Discharge Film-Riding Face Seal Program aims at reducing parasitic leakage through application of a film-riding face sea concept to the compressor discharge location of a Phase 2 IHPTET engine. An order-of-magnitude leakage reduction relative to current labyrinth seal configurations is expected. Performance goals for these seals are (1) 1200 F air temperature, (2) 800 feet-per-second surface velocity, and (3) 600 SPI differential pressure. The two designs chosen for fabrication and rig test are a spiral groove and a Rayleigh step seal. Rig testing is currently underway. The Subsonic Core High Speed Air/Oil Seal Program is developing shaft-to-ground seals for next-generation propulsion systems that will minimize leakage and provide full life. Significantly higher rotor speeds and temperatures will be experienced. Technologies being exploited include, hydrodynamic lift assist features, ultra light weight designs, and improved cooling schemes. Parametric testing has been completed; a final seal design is entering the endurance test phase.

The purpose of the ''Closure and Sealing Design Calculation'' is to illustrate closure and sealing methods for sealing shafts, ramps, and identify boreholes that require sealing in order to limit the potential of water infiltration. In addition, this calculation will provide a description of the magma that can reduce the consequences of an igneous event intersecting the repository. This calculation will also include a listing of the project requirements related to closure and sealing. The scope of this calculation is to: summarize applicable project requirements and codes relating to backfilling nonemplacement openings, removal of uncommitted materials from the subsurface, installation of drip shields, and erecting monuments; compile an inventory of boreholes that are found in the area of the subsurface repository; describe the magma bulkhead feature and location; and include figures for the proposed shaft and ramp seals. The objective of this calculation is to: categorize the boreholes for sealing by depth and proximity to the subsurface repository; develop drawing figures which show the location and geometry for the magma bulkhead; include the shaft seal figures and a proposed construction sequence; and include the ramp seal figure and a proposed construction sequence. The intent of this closure and sealing calculation is to support the License Application by providing a description of the closure and sealing methods for the Safety Analysis Report. The closure and sealing calculation will also provide input for Post Closure Activities by describing the location of the magma bulkhead. This calculation is limited to describing the final configuration of the sealing and backfill systems for the underground area. The methods and procedures used to place the backfill and remove uncommitted materials (such as concrete) from the repository and detailed design of the magma bulkhead will be the subject of separate analyses or calculations. Post-closure monitoring will not

In the fall of 2002, the U.S. Support Program (USSP) initiated an effort to define a strategy or ''roadmap'' for future seals technologies and to develop a generalized process for planning safeguards equipment development, which includes seals and other safeguards equipment. The underlying objectives of the USSP include becoming more proactive than reactive in addressing safeguards equipment needs, helping the IAEA to maintain an inventory of cost-effective, reliable, and effective safeguards equipment, establishing a long-term planning horizon, and securing IAEA ownership in the process of effective requirements definition and timely transitioning of new or improved systems for IAEA use. At an initial workshop, seals, their functions, performance issues, and future embodiments were discussed in the following order: adhesive seals, metal seals, passive and active loop seals, ultrasonic seals, tamper indicating enclosures (including sample containers, equipment enclosures, and conduits). Suggested improvements to these technologies focused largely on a few themes: (1) The seals must be applied quickly, easily, and correctly; (2) Seals and their associated equipment should not unduly add bulk or weight to the inspectors load; (3) Rapid, in-situ verifiability of seals is desirable; and (4) Seal systems for high risk or high value applications should have two-way, remote communications. Based upon these observations and other insights, the participants constructed a skeletal approach for seals technology planning. The process begins with a top-level review of the fundamental safeguards requirements and extraction of required system features, which is followed by analysis of suitable technologies and identification of technology gaps, and finally by development of a planning schedule for system improvements and new technology integration. Development of a comprehensive procedure will require the partnership and participation of the IAEA. The

In the fall of 2002, the U.S. Support Program (USSP) initiated an effort to define a strategy or ''roadmap'' for future seals technologies and to develop a generalized process for planning safeguards equipment development, which includes seals and other safeguards equipment. The underlying objectives of the USSP include becoming more proactive than reactive in addressing safeguards equipment needs, helping the IAEA to maintain an inventory of cost-effective, reliable, and effective safeguards equipment, establishing a long-term planning horizon, and securing IAEA ownership in the process of effective requirements definition and timely transitioning of new or improved systems for IAEA use. At an initial workshop, seals, their functions, performance issues, and future embodiments were discussed in the following order: adhesive seals, metal seals, passive and active loop seals, ultrasonic seals, tamper indicating enclosures (including sample containers, equipment enclosures, and conduits). Suggested improvements to these technologies focused largely on a few themes: (1) The seals must be applied quickly, easily, and correctly; (2) Seals and their associated equipment should not unduly add bulk or weight to the inspectors' load; (3) Rapid, in-situ verifiability of seals is desirable; and (4) Seal systems for high risk or high value applications should have two-way, remote communications. Based upon these observations and other insights, the participants constructed a skeletal approach for seals technology planning. The process begins with a top-level review of the fundamental safeguards requirements and extraction of required system features, which is followed by analysis of suitable technologies and identification of technology gaps, and finally by development of a planning schedule for system improvements and new technology integration. Development of a comprehensive procedure will require the partnership and participation of the IAEA. The presentation will include a

An imbalance in medium osmolarity is a determinant that affects cell culture longevity. Even in humidified incubators, evaporation of water leads to a gradual increase in osmolarity overtime. We present a simple replica-moulding strategy for producing self-sealing lids adaptable to standard, small-size cell-culture vessels.

Full Text Available Pyrolysis is the thermo-chemical conversion of carbonaceous feedstock in the absence of oxygen to produce bio-fuel (bio-oil, bio-char and syn-gas. Bio-fuel production from municipal green waste (MGW through the pyrolysis process has attracted considerable attention recently in the renewable energy sector because it can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to energy security. This study analyses properties of MGW feedstock available in Rockhampton city of Central Queensland, Australia, and presents an experimental investigation of producing bio-fuel from that MGW through the pyrolysis process using a short sealed rotary furnace. It was found from the experiment that about 19.97% bio-oil, 40.83% bio-char and 29.77% syn-gas can be produced from the MGW. Then, a four-stage steady state simulation model is developed for pyrolysis process performance simulation using Aspen Plus software. In the first stage, the moisture content of the MGW feed is reduced. In the second stage, the MGW is decomposed according to its elemental constituents. In the third stage, condensate material is separated and, finally, the pyrolysis reactions are modelled using the Gibbs free energy minimisation approach. The MGW’s ultimate and proximate analysis data were used in the Aspen Plus simulation as input parameters. The model is validated with experimentally measured data. A good agreement between simulation and experimental results was found. More specifically, the variation of modelling and experimental elemental compositions of the MGW was found to be 7.3% for carbon, 15.82% for hydrogen, 7.04% for nitrogen and 5.56% for sulphur. The validated model is used to optimise the biofuel production from the MGW as a function of operating variables such as temperature, moisture content, particle size and process heat air–fuel ratio. The modelling and optimisation results are presented, analysed and discussed.

This invention is a float level switch used to sense rise or drop in water level in a containment vessel of a nuclear power plant during a loss of coolant accident. The essential components of the device are a guide tube, a reed switch inside the guide tube, a float containing a magnetic portion that activates a reed switch, and metal-sheathed, ceramic-insulated conductors connecting the reed switch to a monitoring system outside the containment vessel. Special materials and special sealing techniques prevent failure of components and allow the float level switch to be connected to a monitoring system outside the containment vessel. 1 figures.

The major water-bearing fractures in granite usually from fairly regular sets but the extension and degree of connectivity is varying. This means that only a few fractures that are interconnected with the deposition holes and larger water-bearing structures in a HLW repository are expected and if they can be identified and cut off through sealing it would be possible to improve the isolation of waste packages very effectively. Nature's own fracture sealing mechanisms may be simulated and a survey of the involved processes actually suggests a number of possible filling methods and substances. Most of them require high temperature and pressure and correspondingly sophisticated techniques, but some are of potential interest for immediate application with rather moderate effort. Such a technique is to fill the fractures with clayey substances which stay flexible and low-permeable provided that they remain physically and chemically intact. It is demonstrated in the report that effective grouting requires a very low viscosity and shear strength of the substance and this can be achieved by mechanical agitation as demonstrated in this report. Thus, by superimposing static pressure and shear waves induced by percussion hammering at a suitable frequency, clays and fine-grained silts as well as cement can be driven into fractures with an average aperture as small as 0.1 mm. Experiments were made in the laboratory using concrete and steel plates, and a field pilot test was also conducted under realistic conditions on site in Stripa. They all demonstrated the practicality of the 'dynamic injection technique' and that the fluid condition of the grouts yielded complete filling of the injected space to a considerable distance from the injection point. The field test indicated a good sealing ability as well as a surprisingly high resistance to erosion and piping. (author)

In a coal liquefaction process wherein heavy bottoms produced in a liquefaction zone are upgraded by coking or a similar pyrolysis step, pyrolysis liquids boiling in excess of about 1000.degree. F. are further reacted with molecular hydrogen in a reaction zone external of the liquefaction zone, the resulting effluent is fractionated to produce one or more distillate fractions and a bottoms fraction, a portion of this bottoms fraction is recycled to the reaction zone, and the remaining portion of the bottoms fraction is recycled to the pyrolysis step.

.... The ND tester is based on a static compression force that reduces the volume of the tray and creates an internal pressure inside the tray and exposes the seal to forces that open the seal if the seal...

The scope of this analysis will be to develop the conceptual design of the closure seals and their locations in the Subsurface Facilities. The design will be based on the recently established program requirements for transitioning to the Site Recommendation (SR) design as outlined by ''Approach to Implementing the Site Recommendation Baseline'' (Stroupe 2000) and the ''Monitored Geologic Repository Project Description Document'' (CRWMS M andO 1999b). The objective of this analysis will be to assist in providing a description for the Subsurface Facilities System Description Document, Section 2 and finally to document any conclusions reached in order to contribute and provide support to the SR. This analysis is at a conceptual level and is considered adequate to support the SR design. The final closure barriers and seals for the ventilation shafts, and the north and south ramps will require these openings to be permanently sealed to limit excessive air and water inflows and prevent human intrusion. The major tasks identified with closure in this analysis are: (1) Developing the overall subsurface seal layout and identifying design and operational interfaces for the Subsurface Facilities. (2) Summarizing the general site conditions and general rock characteristic with respect to seal location and describing the seal selected. (3) Identify seal construction materials, methodology of construction and strategic locations including design of the seal and plugs. (4) Discussing methods to prevent human intrusion

Aluminum sheet forms effective sealing film at temperatures up to 728 K. Soft aluminum wire rings provide positive seal between foil and platen. For applications at temperatures above aluminum's service temperature, stainless steel is used as film material and copper wire as sealant.

High-pressure-seal formed by forcing polyurethane into space surrounding wire or cable in special fitting. Wire or cable routed through fitting then through a tightly fitting cap. Wire insulation left intact. Cap filled with sealant and forced onto the fitting: this pushes sealant into fitting so it seals wire or cable in fitting as well as in cap.

Explanations of a marine mammal rescue program and information on seals and sea lions are presented in this curriculum package for intermediate grade teachers. Activities are highlighted which focus on the natural history of harbor seals. This unit contains: (1) pre-trip activities (including fact sheets and worksheets on the different types of…

An aerodynamic seal assembly for a rotary machine includes multiple sealing device segments disposed circumferentially intermediate to a stationary housing and a rotor. Each of the segments includes a shoe plate with a forward-shoe section and an aft-shoe section having multiple labyrinth teeth therebetween facing the rotor. The sealing device segment also includes multiple flexures connected to the shoe plate and to a top interface element, wherein the multiple flexures are configured to allow the high pressure fluid to occupy a forward cavity and the low pressure fluid to occupy an aft cavity. Further, the sealing device segments include a secondary seal attached to the top interface element at one first end and positioned about the flexures and the shoe plate at one second end.

This project examines the City of New Orleans' waste tire problem. Louisiana State law, as of January 1, 1991, prohibits the knowing disposal of whole waste tires in landfills. Presently, the numerous waste tire stockpiles in New Orleans range in size from tens to hundreds of tires. New Orleans' waste tire problem will continue to increase until legal disposal facilities are made accessible and a waste tire tracking and regulatory system with enforcement provisions is in place. Tires purchased outside of the city of New Orleans may be discarded within the city's limits; therefore, as a practical matter this study analyzes the impact stemming from the entire New Orleans metropolitan area. Pyrolysis mass recovery (PMR), a tire reclamation process which produces gas, oil, carbon black and steel, is the primary focus of this report. The technical, legal and environmental aspects of various alternative technologies are examined. The feasibility of locating a hypothetical PMR operation within the city of New Orleans is analyzed based on the current economic, regulatory, and environmental climate in Louisiana. A thorough analysis of active, abandoned, and proposed Pyrolysis operations (both national and international) was conducted as part of this project. Siting a PMR plant in New Orleans at the present time is technically feasible and could solve the city's waste tire problem. Pending state legislation could improve the city's ability to guarantee a long term supply of waste tires to any large scale tire reclamation or recycling operation, but the local market for PMR end products is undefined.

This project examines the City of New Orleans` waste tire problem. Louisiana State law, as of January 1, 1991, prohibits the knowing disposal of whole waste tires in landfills. Presently, the numerous waste tire stockpiles in New Orleans range in size from tens to hundreds of tires. New Orleans` waste tire problem will continue to increase until legal disposal facilities are made accessible and a waste tire tracking and regulatory system with enforcement provisions is in place. Tires purchased outside of the city of New Orleans may be discarded within the city`s limits; therefore, as a practical matter this study analyzes the impact stemming from the entire New Orleans metropolitan area. Pyrolysis mass recovery (PMR), a tire reclamation process which produces gas, oil, carbon black and steel, is the primary focus of this report. The technical, legal and environmental aspects of various alternative technologies are examined. The feasibility of locating a hypothetical PMR operation within the city of New Orleans is analyzed based on the current economic, regulatory, and environmental climate in Louisiana. A thorough analysis of active, abandoned, and proposed Pyrolysis operations (both national and international) was conducted as part of this project. Siting a PMR plant in New Orleans at the present time is technically feasible and could solve the city`s waste tire problem. Pending state legislation could improve the city`s ability to guarantee a long term supply of waste tires to any large scale tire reclamation or recycling operation, but the local market for PMR end products is undefined.

Milled wood lignins from spruce, beech and bamboo were pyrolysed. The high-boiling products of pyrolysis were studied by GLC and mass spectrometry. The forty-three products identified provide information on the structural units of lignin.

.... The vacuum pyrolysis method of oxygen production from lunar regolith presents a viable option for in situ propellant production because of its simple operation involving limited resources from earth...

Highlights: ► This covers the overall status and progress of the ITER vacuum vessel activities. ► It includes design, R and D, manufacturing and approval process of the regulators. ► The baseline design was completed and now manufacturing designs are on-going. ► R and D includes ISI, dynamic test of keys and lip-seal welding/cutting technology. ► The VV suppliers produced full-scale mock-ups and started VV manufacturing. -- Abstract: Design modifications were implemented in the vacuum vessel (VV) baseline design in 2011–2012 for finalization. The modifications are mostly due to interface components, such as support rails and feedthroughs for the in-vessel coils (IVC). Manufacturing designs are being developed at the domestic agencies (DAs) based on the baseline design. The VV support design was also finalized and tests on scale mock-ups are under preparation. Design of the in-wall shielding (IWS) has progressed, considering the assembly methods and the required tolerances. Further modifications are required to be consistent with the DAs’ manufacturing designs. Dynamic tests on the inter-modular and stub keys to support the blanket modules are being performed to measure the dynamic amplification factor (DAF). An in-service inspection (ISI) plan has been developed and R and D was launched for ISI. Conceptual design of the VV instrumentation has been developed. The VV baseline design was approved by the agreed notified body (ANB) in accordance with the French Nuclear Pressure Equipment Order procedure.

Highlights: ► This covers the overall status and progress of the ITER vacuum vessel activities. ► It includes design, R and D, manufacturing and approval process of the regulators. ► The baseline design was completed and now manufacturing designs are on-going. ► R and D includes ISI, dynamic test of keys and lip-seal welding/cutting technology. ► The VV suppliers produced full-scale mock-ups and started VV manufacturing. -- Abstract: Design modifications were implemented in the vacuum vessel (VV) baseline design in 2011–2012 for finalization. The modifications are mostly due to interface components, such as support rails and feedthroughs for the in-vessel coils (IVC). Manufacturing designs are being developed at the domestic agencies (DAs) based on the baseline design. The VV support design was also finalized and tests on scale mock-ups are under preparation. Design of the in-wall shielding (IWS) has progressed, considering the assembly methods and the required tolerances. Further modifications are required to be consistent with the DAs’ manufacturing designs. Dynamic tests on the inter-modular and stub keys to support the blanket modules are being performed to measure the dynamic amplification factor (DAF). An in-service inspection (ISI) plan has been developed and R and D was launched for ISI. Conceptual design of the VV instrumentation has been developed. The VV baseline design was approved by the agreed notified body (ANB) in accordance with the French Nuclear Pressure Equipment Order procedure

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Pyrolysis of waste tyres produces oil, gas and char, and recovered steel. • Batch, screw kiln, rotary kiln, vacuum and fluidised-bed are main reactor types. • Product yields are influenced by reactor type, temperature and heating rate. • Pyrolysis oils are complex and can be used as chemical feedstock or fuel. • Research into higher value products from the tyre pyrolysis process is reviewed. - Abstract: Approximately 1.5 billion tyres are produced each year which will eventually enter the waste stream representing a major potential waste and environmental problem. However, there is growing interest in pyrolysis as a technology to treat tyres to produce valuable oil, char and gas products. The most common reactors used are fixed-bed (batch), screw kiln, rotary kiln, vacuum and fluidised-bed. The key influence on the product yield, and gas and oil composition, is the type of reactor used which in turn determines the temperature and heating rate. Tyre pyrolysis oil is chemically very complex containing aliphatic, aromatic, hetero-atom and polar fractions. The fuel characteristics of the tyre oil shows that it is similar to a gas oil or light fuel oil and has been successfully combusted in test furnaces and engines. The main gases produced from the pyrolysis of waste tyres are H{sub 2}, C{sub 1}–C{sub 4} hydrocarbons, CO{sub 2}, CO and H{sub 2}S. Upgrading tyre pyrolysis products to high value products has concentrated on char upgrading to higher quality carbon black and to activated carbon. The use of catalysts to upgrade the oil to a aromatic-rich chemical feedstock or the production of hydrogen from waste tyres has also been reported. Examples of commercial and semi-commercial scale tyre pyrolysis systems show that small scale batch reactors and continuous rotary kiln reactors have been developed to commercial scale.

The behavior of sulfur in Illinois coals during pyrolysis was evaluated by thermogravimetry/ Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (TG/FT-IR) techniques. SO2, COS, and H2S were major gaseous sulfur-containing products observed during coal pyrolysis. The release rates of the gaseous sulfur species showed several peaks within the temperature ranges, which were due to the emission of different forms of sulfur in coal. ?? 1994.

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Pyrolysis of waste tyres produces oil, gas and char, and recovered steel. • Batch, screw kiln, rotary kiln, vacuum and fluidised-bed are main reactor types. • Product yields are influenced by reactor type, temperature and heating rate. • Pyrolysis oils are complex and can be used as chemical feedstock or fuel. • Research into higher value products from the tyre pyrolysis process is reviewed. - Abstract: Approximately 1.5 billion tyres are produced each year which will eventually enter the waste stream representing a major potential waste and environmental problem. However, there is growing interest in pyrolysis as a technology to treat tyres to produce valuable oil, char and gas products. The most common reactors used are fixed-bed (batch), screw kiln, rotary kiln, vacuum and fluidised-bed. The key influence on the product yield, and gas and oil composition, is the type of reactor used which in turn determines the temperature and heating rate. Tyre pyrolysis oil is chemically very complex containing aliphatic, aromatic, hetero-atom and polar fractions. The fuel characteristics of the tyre oil shows that it is similar to a gas oil or light fuel oil and has been successfully combusted in test furnaces and engines. The main gases produced from the pyrolysis of waste tyres are H 2 , C 1 –C 4 hydrocarbons, CO 2 , CO and H 2 S. Upgrading tyre pyrolysis products to high value products has concentrated on char upgrading to higher quality carbon black and to activated carbon. The use of catalysts to upgrade the oil to a aromatic-rich chemical feedstock or the production of hydrogen from waste tyres has also been reported. Examples of commercial and semi-commercial scale tyre pyrolysis systems show that small scale batch reactors and continuous rotary kiln reactors have been developed to commercial scale

Despite of its great importance, the detailed molecular mechanism for carbohydrate pyrolysis remains poorly understood. We perform a density functional study with a newly developed XYG3 functional on the processes for D-glucose pyrolysis to acrolein. The most feasible reaction pathway starts from an isomerization from D-glucose to D-fructose, which then undergoes a cyclic Grob fragmentation, followed by a concerted electrocyclic dehydration to yield acrolein. This mechanism can account for the known experimental results.

Pyrolysis and/or oxidative pyrolysis of organic ion exchange resins and other combustible waste may be effective pretreatment processes before vitrification. Three different methods were examined with the TGA to pretreat the resins: pyrolysis; oxidative pyrolysis; and oxidative pyrolyses of ash remaining after the pyrolysis of resin. The latter two methods were found to provide better volume reduction than the pyrolysis-only process. Between the two types of resins, cationic and anionic, the cationic exchange resin was less volatile. Pyrolysis and oxidative pyrolysis of mixed resin (50% cation and 50% anion by wt.) showed volatilization at the temperatures where volatilization was observed for each of the separate resins. Because of certain limitations of the commercial TGA, tube furnace experiments were performed, generally, to examine the pyrolysis of larger quantities of cationic, anionic, and mixed resin, and to examine off-gas characteristics. The cationic resin-only and anionic resin-only gravimetric results showed good agreement with the smaller-scale TGA results. SEM pictures of the different variants of the resin (cationic, anionic, and mixed) show a different morphology for each. Off-gas data showed the presence of H 2 S, SO 2 , CO, and NO during the pyrolysis of cationic resin. CO was observed during the pyrolysis of anionic resin. The mixed resin trials showed the presence of the gases approximately at the temperatures where the gases would evolve if the results of the two different resins (cationic and anionic) were superimposed. However, the amount of hydrogen sulfide relative to the sulfur dioxide was found to increase significantly compared to the results of the cationic resin-only trials

Tamper tapes are appealing for many applications due to their ease of use and relative robustness. Applications include seals for temporary area denial, protection of sensitive equipment, chain-of-custody audit trails, and inventory control practices. A next generation of adhesive tamper tapes is being developed that combines the best features of commercially available devices with additional state-of-the-art features in tamper indication, tamper-resistance, and counterfeit-resistance. The additional features are based on U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) research and development (R ampersand D) activities that were originally associated with preparations for the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START). New features include rapid-set, chemical-cure adhesive systems that allow user-friendly application and layered levels of counterfeit-resistance based on unique open-quotes fingerprintclose quotes characteristics that can be accessed as desired

A relatively impervious mechanical seal is formed between the outer surface of a tube and the inside surface of a mechanical fitting of a high pressure fluid or hydraulic system by applying a very thin soft metal layer onto the outer surface of the hard metal tube and/or inner surface of the hard metal fitting. The thickness of such thin metal layer is independent of the size of the tube and/or fittings. Many metals and alloys of those metals exhibit the requisite softness, including silver, gold, tin, platinum, indium, rhodium and cadmium. Suitably, the coating is about 0.0025 millimeters (0.10 mils) in thickness. After compression, the tube and fitting combination exhibits very low leak rates on the order or 10.sup.-8 cubic centimeters per second or less as measured using the Helium leak test.

Full Text Available A review of the pyrolysis process of used tyre as a method of producing an alternative energy source is presented in this paper. The study reports the characteristics of used tyre materials and methods of recycling, types and principles of pyrolysis, the pyrolysis products and their composition, effects of process parameters, and kinetic models applied to pyrolysis. From publications, the proximate analysis of tyre rubber shows that it is composed of about 28.6 wt.% fixed carbon, 62 wt.% volatile material, 8.5 wt.% ash, and 0.9 wt.% moisture. Elemental analysis reveals that tyre rubber has an estimated value of 82 wt.% of C, 8 wt.% of H, 0.4 wt.% of N, 1.3 wt.% of S, 2.4 wt.% of O, and 5.9 wt.% of ash. Thermogravimetry analysis confirms that the pyrolysis of used tyre at atmospheric pressure commences at 250°C and completes at 550°C. The three primary products obtained from used tyre pyrolysis are solid residue (around 36 wt.%, liquid fraction or biocrude (around 55 wt.%, and gas fraction (around 9 wt.%. Although there is variation in the value of kinetic parameters obtained by different authors from the kinetic modeling of used tyre, the process is generally accepted as a first order reaction based on Arrhenius theory.

A rim seal arrangement for a gas turbine engine includes a first seal face on a rotor component, and a second seal face on a stationary annular rim centered about a rotation axis of the rotor component. The second seal face is spaced from the first seal face along an axial direction to define a seal gap. The seal gap is located between a radially outer hot gas path and a radially inner rotor cavity. The first seal face has a plurality of circumferentially spaced depressions, each having a depth in an axial direction and extending along a radial extent of the first seal face. The depressions influence flow in the seal gap such that during rotation of the rotor component, fluid in the seal gap is pumped in a radially outward direction to prevent ingestion of a gas path fluid from the hot gas path into the rotor cavity.

The vessel described includes a prestressed concrete vessel containing a chamber and a removable cover closing this chamber. The cover is in concrete and is kept in its closed position by main and auxiliary retainers, comprising fittings integral with the concrete of the vessel. The auxiliary retainers pass through the concrete of the cover. This improvement may be applied to BWR, PWR and LMFBR type reactor vessel [fr

To evaluate the clinical efficacy and cost-effectiveness of ultrasonic shears and the electrothermal bipolar vesselsealing system, in comparison to the traditional cold knife and bipolar forceps, in oral and oropharyngeal cancer surgery. Patients who underwent oral or oropharyngeal cancer resection and neck dissection with either ultrasonic shears (n = 36) or electrothermal bipolar vesselsealing (n = 32) were enrolled. Surgical time, intra-operative bleeding, blood drainage, post-operative pain, neck oedema, complications and hospitalisation duration were compared to those of an historical cohort of 36 patients treated using a cold knife and bipolar forceps. Additionally, a cost-effectiveness evaluation was performed. Ultrasonic shears and, in particular, electrothermal bipolar vesselsealing, were advantageous compared to the traditional techniques. The cost of ultrasonic shears and electrothermal bipolar vesselsealing was completely offset by declining time-driven costs for the surgical team and operating theatre. Ultrasonic shears and, in particular, electrothermal bipolar vesselsealing, are more advantageous compared to the traditional techniques, from both a clinical and economic point of view.

View of the radiator vessels of the ALICE/HMPID mounted on the support frame. Each HMPID module is equipped with 3 indipendent radiator vessels made out of neoceram and fused silica (quartz) windows glued together. The spacers inside the vessel are needed to stand the hydrostatic pressure. http://alice-hmpid.web.cern.ch/alice-hmpid

The present invention provides a detection method for measuring the amount of water leaked from sealings attached to the lower end of a pressure tube. That is, the lower end of the pressure tube is sealed only by a metal sealing. A capturing vessel is placed under the pressure tube for capturing the leaked water dropping from the lower end of the pressure tube and the weight of the leaked water is measured on every capturing vessels to determine the amount of the leaked water. The leakage detection method based on the weight measurement has higher accuracy compared with a conventional volume measuring method using a water level gauge as described below. For example, if the volume of the captured water is 10cc, an error of about 0.1cc is caused by the volume measuring method using the water level gauge, whereas if 10g (10cc) weight of water is measured by using an accurate balance, error is only about 10 -4 g (10 -4 cc). Accordingly, the method of the present invention can measure at an accuracy about 1000 times as high as the conventional method. (I.S.)

The ultimate objective of this project was to develop a better understanding of volatiles production to help optimize the yield and character of condensable coproducts during coal pyrolysis or mild gasification. The specific objectives were to (1) Develop pyrolysis procedures that minimize secondary reactions; and (2) Develop coal pretreatments that current knowledge suggests will prorate bond scission or prevent retrograde reactions. Our approach was to study the pyrolysis of coals and tar-loaded coals by using several techniques that span a range of heating rates and pressures. Slow-heating pyrolyses were performed at low pressures in the inlet of a field ionization mass spectrometer and at atmospheric pressures in a thermogravimetric analyzer. Moderately rapid-heating pyrolyses were performed in a vacuum TGA apparatus and in sealed silica ampules heated in a molten-salt bath. The fastest heating rates were achieved with laser pyrolysis at about 30,000 X/s. The high tar yield seen in this work where the entire volume of the coal particle becomes hot and fluid at very nearly the same time, taken together with the evident non-vapor transport of the tar under these conditions, emphasizes the importance of better understanding the development of fluidity during coal heating. This specifically includes the profound effects--long-recognized but poorly understood that mild oxidation has in suppressing coal fluidity. It also includes the more recently recognized fact that heating in the presence of an inert gas produced substantially greater fluidity than does heating in the presence of combustion gases, even if the conditions are very fuel rich and all the oxygen itself has already been consumed when the coal particles are encountered.

Two companion reports deal with design considerations for improving performance of mechanical face seals, one of family of devices used in general area of fluid sealing of rotating shafts. One report deals with basic seal configuration and other with lubrication of seal.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Floating glacial ice serves as a haul-out substrate for a significant number (10-15%) of Alaskan harbor seals, and thus surveying tidewater glacial fjords is an...

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains food habits samples, usually scats, collected opportunistically on northern fur seal rookeries and haulouts in Alaska from 1987 to present....

.... The 3.650-inch-diameter, 0.500-inch-wide seal, made of wrought A-286 nickel-iron super alloy, is difficult to clamp securely during machining, making it a challenge to maintain required roundness tolerances...

A consortium has been formed to address seal problems in the Aerospace sector of Allied Signal, Inc. The consortium is represented by makers of Propulsion Engines, Auxiliary Power Units, Gas Turbine Starters, etc. The goal is to improve Face Seal reliability, since Face Seals have become reliability drivers in many of our product lines. Several research programs are being implemented simultaneously this year. They include: Face Seal Modeling and Analysis Methodology; Oil Cooling of Seals; Seal Tracking Dynamics; Coking Formation & Prevention; and Seal Reliability Methods.

Pressure is responsible for very high charcoal yields (varying from 40% to 48% depending on the raw material and process parameters). This high solid yield induces products quality changes. A primary goal of this ongoing research is to quantitatively measure the effect of process parameters (e.g., temperature, pressure) and feedstock composition (species, moisture) on the quality of pyrolysis products. Reaction pressure was achieved either by adding nitrogen into a seated reactor or by self-increase due to gas formation during load heating. Charcoal proximate and ultimate analyses have been performed. Gas and vapour analyses by GC are not completed yet and will be discussed later. The experimental results on Brazilian tropical hardwoods show the influence of the initial pressure on product quality compared with atmospheric pressure reaction. The paper will then compare and discuss results on the role of water during the reaction. Temperature and pressure profiles suggest that water has no chemical action in the reaction but allows faster pressure increase when heated. (author)

In April 2010 the Carbon Dioxide Reduction Assembly (CRA) was delivered to the International Space Station (ISS). This technology requires hydrogen to recover oxygen from carbon dioxide. This results in the production of water and methane. Water is electrolyzed to provide oxygen to the crew. Methane is vented to space resulting in a loss of valuable hydrogen and unreduced carbon dioxide. This is not critical for ISS because of the water resupply from Earth. However, in order to have enough oxygen for long-term missions, it will be necessary to recover the hydrogen to maximize oxygen recovery. Thus, the Plasma Pyrolysis Assembly (PPA) was designed to recover hydrogen from methane. During operation, the PPA produces small amounts of carbon that can ultimately reduce performance by forming on the walls and windows of the reactor chamber. The carbon must be removed, although mechanical methods are highly inefficient, thus chemical methods are of greater interest. The purpose of this effort was to determine the feasibility of chemically removing the carbon from the walls and windows of a PPA reactor using a pure carbon dioxide stream.

GE Energy has retrofitted brush seals into more than 19 operating steam turbines. Brush seals offer superior leakage control compared to labyrinth seals, owing to their compliant nature and ability to maintain very tight clearances to the rotating shaft. Seal designs have been established for steam turbines ranging in size from 12 MW to over 1200 MW, including fossil, nuclear, combined-cycle and industrial applications. Steam turbines present unique design challenges that must be addressed to ensure that the potential performance benefits of brush seals are realized. Brush seals can have important effects on the overall turbine system that must be taken into account to assure reliable operation. Subscale rig tests are instrumental to understanding seal behavior under simulated steam-turbine operating conditions, prior to installing brush seals in the field. This presentation discusses the technical challenges of designing brush seals for steam turbines; subscale testing; performance benefits of brush seals; overall system effects; and field applications.

A reusable, tamper-indicating seal is comprised of a drum confined within a fixed body and rotatable in one direction therewithin, the top of the drum constituting a tray carrying a large number of small balls of several different colors. The fixed body contains parallel holes for looping a seal wire therethrough. The base of the drums carries cams adapted to coact with cam followers to lock the wire within the seal at one angular position of the drum. A channel in the fixed body, visible from outside the seal, adjacent the tray constitutes a segregated location for a small plurality of the colored balls. A spring in the tray forces colored balls into the segregated location at one angular position of the drum, further rotation securing the balls in position and the wires in the seal. A wedge-shaped plough removes the balls from the segregated location, at a different angular position of the drum, the wire being unlocked at the same postion. A new pattern of colored balls will appear in the segregated location when the seal is relocked

Full Text Available Waste tire pyrolysis oil has high potential to replace conventional fossil liquid fuels due to its high calorific heating value. However, the large amounts of sulfurous compounds in this oil hinders its application. Thus, the aim of this research was to investigate the possibility to apply the photo-assisted oxidation catalyzed by titanium dioxide (TiO2, Degussa P-25 to partially remove sulfurous compounds in the waste tire pyrolysis oil under milder reaction conditions without hydrogen consumption. A waste tire pyrolysis oil with 0.84% (w/w of sulfurous content containing suspended TiO2 was irradiated by using a high-pressure mercury lamp for 7 h. The oxidized sulfur compounds were then migrated into the solvent-extraction phase. A maximum % sulfur removal of 43.6% was achieved when 7 g/L of TiO2 was loaded into a 1/4 (v/v mixture of pyrolysis waste tire oil/acetonitrile at 50 °C in the presence of air. Chromatographic analysis confirmed that the photo-oxidized sulfurous compounds presented in the waste tire pyrolysis oil had higher polarity, which were readily dissolved and separated in distilled water. The properties of the photoxidized product were also reported and compared to those of crude oil.

Full Text Available This paper shows a preliminary study proposing the usage of whole sugarcane in the thermoconversion process. . Tests were made on fast pyrolysis of biomass as whole sugarcane (bagasse, sugar and sugarcane straw crushed and dry. These experiments were performed in order to verify the suitability of this type of biomass for the fast pyrolysis process in a fluidized bed. The pre-treatment was assessed, during which, for the preparation of the whole sugarcane, an ordinary machine for chopping and grinding was employed. The pyrolysis process was conducted without major changes in the plant operating conditions to other biomass such as sugarcane trash. The efficiency of energy conversion of biomass to fine coal and bio-oil was 41%, resulting in a production of 3034 MJ per ton of the whole sugarcane processed, compared to 1900.6 MJ obtained in the production of ethanol via fermentation, where the conversion efficiency was around 26%. With the advances in this pyrolysis, efficiency may increase in the coming years, an interesting route for production of second generation fuels via catalytic synthesis using syngas from gasification of the mixture of bio-oil and fine charcoal. Keywords: Bioenergy, Whole sugarcane, Bio-oil, Fast pyrolysis.

A new family of coherently grown composites of TUN and IMF zeotypes has been synthesized and show to be effective catalysts for catalytic pyrolysis of biomass. These zeolites are represented by the empirical formula. Na.sub.nM.sub.m.sup.n+R.sub.rQ.sub.qAl.sub1-xE.sub.xSi.sub.yO.s- ub.z where M represents zinc or a metal or metals from Group 1, Group 2, Group 3 or the lanthanide series of the periodic table, R is an A,.OMEGA.-dihalosubstituted paraffin such as 1,4-dibromobutane, Q is a neutral amine containing 5 or fewer carbon atoms such as 1-methylpyrrolidine and E is a framework element such as gallium. The process involves contacting a carbonaceous biomass feedstock with UZM-39 at pyrolysis conditions to produce pyrolysis gases comprising hydrocarbons. The catalyst catalyzes a deoxygenation reaction converting oxygenated hyrdocarbons into hydrocarbons removing the oxygen as carbon oxides and water. A portion of the pyrolysis gases is condensed to produce low oxygen biomass-derived pyrolysis oil.

Pinnipeds, that is true seals (Phocidae), eared seals (Otariidae), and walruses (Odobenidae), possess highly developed vibrissal systems for mechanoreception. They can use their vibrissae to detect and discriminate objects by direct touch. At least in Phocidae and Otariidae, the vibrissae can also be used to detect and analyse water movements. Here, we review what is known about this ability, known as hydrodynamic perception, in pinnipeds. Hydrodynamic perception in pinnipeds developed convergently to the hydrodynamic perception with the lateral line system in fish and the sensory hairs in crustaceans. So far two species of pinnipeds, the harbour seal (Phoca vitulina) representing the Phocidae and the California sea lion (Zalophus californianus) representing the Otariidae, have been studied for their ability to detect local water movements (dipole stimuli) and to follow hydrodynamic trails, that is the water movements left behind by objects that have passed by at an earlier point in time. Both species are highly sensitive to dipole stimuli and can follow hydrodynamic trails accurately. In the individuals tested, California sea lions were clearly more sensitive to dipole stimuli than harbour seals, and harbour seals showed a superior trail following ability as compared to California sea lions. Harbour seals have also been shown to derive additional information from hydrodynamic trails, such as motion direction, size and shape of the object that caused the trail (California sea lions have not yet been tested). The peculiar undulated shape of the harbour seals' vibrissae appears to play a crucial role in trail following, as it suppresses self-generated noise while the animal is swimming.

Highlights: • Pyrolysis characteristics are conducted for a better understanding of LCDs pyrolysis. • Optimum design is developed which is significant to guide the further industrial process. • Acetic acid and TPP are recycled and separated. - Abstract: Waste liquid crystal display (LCD) panels mainly contain inorganic materials (glass substrate with indium-tin oxide film), and organic materials (polarizing film and liquid crystal). The organic materials should be removed beforehand since the organic matters would hinder the indium recycling process. In the present study, pyrolysis process is used to remove the organic materials and recycle acetic as well as and triphenyl phosphate (TPP) from waste LCD panels in an environmental friendly way. Several highlights of this study are summarized as follows: (i) Pyrolysis characteristics and pyrolysis kinetics analysis are conducted which is significant to get a better understanding of the pyrolysis process. (ii) Optimum design is developed by applying Box–Behnken Design (BBD) under response surface methodology (RSM) for engineering application which is significant to guide the further industrial recycling process. The oil yield could reach 70.53 wt% and the residue rate could reach 14.05 wt% when the pyrolysis temperature is 570 °C, nitrogen flow rate is 6 L min −1 and the particle size is 0.5 mm. (iii) Furthermore, acetic acid and TPP are recycled, and then separated by rotary evaporation, which could reduce the consumption of fossil energy for producing acetic acid, and be reused in electronics manufacturing industry.

Highlights: • Pyrolysis characteristics are conducted for a better understanding of LCDs pyrolysis. • Optimum design is developed which is significant to guide the further industrial process. • Acetic acid and TPP are recycled and separated. - Abstract: Waste liquid crystal display (LCD) panels mainly contain inorganic materials (glass substrate with indium-tin oxide film), and organic materials (polarizing film and liquid crystal). The organic materials should be removed beforehand since the organic matters would hinder the indium recycling process. In the present study, pyrolysis process is used to remove the organic materials and recycle acetic as well as and triphenyl phosphate (TPP) from waste LCD panels in an environmental friendly way. Several highlights of this study are summarized as follows: (i) Pyrolysis characteristics and pyrolysis kinetics analysis are conducted which is significant to get a better understanding of the pyrolysis process. (ii) Optimum design is developed by applying Box–Behnken Design (BBD) under response surface methodology (RSM) for engineering application which is significant to guide the further industrial recycling process. The oil yield could reach 70.53 wt% and the residue rate could reach 14.05 wt% when the pyrolysis temperature is 570 °C, nitrogen flow rate is 6 L min{sup −1} and the particle size is 0.5 mm. (iii) Furthermore, acetic acid and TPP are recycled, and then separated by rotary evaporation, which could reduce the consumption of fossil energy for producing acetic acid, and be reused in electronics manufacturing industry.

The influence of different pyrolysis conditions for tar catalytic cracking will be analyzed according to the lignite pyrolysis char as catalyst on pyrolytic tar in this paper. The pyrolysis char what is the by-product of the cracking of coal has an abundant of pore structure and it has good catalytic activity. On this basis, making the modified catalyst when the pyrolysis char is activation and loads Fe by impregnation method. The cracking mechanism of lignite pyrolytic tar is explored by applying gas chromatograph to analyze splitting products of tar. The experimental results showed that: (1) The effect of tar cracking as the pyrolysis temperature, the heating rate, the volatilization of pyrolysis char and particle size increasing is better and better. The effect of the catalytic and cracking of lignite pyrolysis char in tar is best when the heating rate, the pyrolysis temperature, the volatiles of pyrolysis char, particle size is in specific conditions.(2) The activation of pyrolysis char can improve the catalytic effect of pyrolysis char on the tar cracking. But it reduces the effect of the tar cracking when the pyrolysis char is activation loading Fe. (author)

As a part of the geoscientific research in JNC Tono Geoscience Center, we are conducting the borehole investigation as a method of surveying techniques to gain an understanding of geological environment characterization (geology/geological structure, rock hydraulic characteristics, ground water geochemical characteristics and rock mechanics) from surface to deep underground. The borehole for the borehole investigation is used for monitoring hole after the borehole investigation. Since the borehole may act as a passage of groundwater flow and disturb the geological environment artificially, it has to be sealed in finally. Moreover, the hydraulic testing and the geochemical analysis of groundwater that be conducted in the zones injected some kind of lost circulation materials might be impacted on the accuracy of test result. The actual technologies regarding to these themes was researched and evaluated. In the second step, clarification of problems and procedure of R and D for solution of these problems was examined. In order to estimate the effect of lost circulation materials on hydraulic testing, a laboratory test of borehole behavior was performed using a scale model that consisted of a borehole and a water-loss zone. In this test, we found out that the lost circulation material was desorbed from the water-loss zone by back-flow action. It was proved by the test that there is little influence from lost circulation materials on hydraulic testing. Investigation regarding borehole sealing technology was conducted in literature search and interview to overseas researchers. In consequent, three kinds of materials - bentonite clay, bentonite pellet, and ethanol bentonite, were selected as effective sealing material. Moreover, five kinds of methods were selected as effective sealing methods. In water permeability test of sealing material, three kinds of sealing materials indicated lower permeability - order of 10 -11 m/sec, and it was evaluated that it could be worked

on the electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) analysis. In contrast to expectations of graphitic structures to react slower than amorphous samples, beechwood andwheat straw soot were 35 and 571 times more reactive than pinewood soot prepared at 1400°C.The presence of potassium in wheat straw soot mainly...... pyrolysis at high temperatures plays a significant role in the overall combustion process since the biomass type, the reaction kinetics and heat transfer rates during pyrolysis influence the volatile gas release. The solid residue yield and its properties in suspension firing, including particle size...... that potassium has a dominating effect on the soot reactivity compared to nanostructure and particle size. A mathematical model of biomass fast pyrolysis was developed to predict the gas and char yield of wood and herbaceous biomass at heating rates > 600K s-1. The model includes both kinetics and external...

The behavior of chlorine in Illinois coals during pyrolysis was evaluated by combined thermo-gravimetry-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy-ion chromatography (TG-FTIR-IC) techniques. It was found that more than 90% of chlorine in Illinois coals (IBC-103, 105, 106, and 109) was liberated as HCl gas during pyrolysis from 300 to 600??C, with the rate reaching a maximum at 440 ??C. Similarity of the HCl and NH3 release profiles during pyrolysis of IBC-109 supports the hypothesis that the chlorine in coal may be associated with nitrogen and the chlorine is probably bonded to the basic nitrogen sites on the inner walls of coal micropores. ?? 1994 American Chemical Society.

Full text: While bio-oil has received considerable attention both as a source of energy and as an organic feedstock, its stability as fuel is very low due to high oxygen content. Therefore, there are many efforts to upgrade it. Among them, co pyrolysis with polyolefin can be a method to obtain stable bio-oil. Because polyolefins contain higher hydrogen and carbon content than biomass and no oxygen, plastic/ biomass co pyrolysis may upgrade the bio-oil properties by increasing the carbon and hydrogen contents while reducing oxygen content. In this study, wood biomass was mixed with PP and then co pyrolysis was carried out in a batch reactor. The produced oil and gas was analyzed using GC and GC-MS. Also elemental analysis was performed to know the hydrogen, carbon and oxygen content of bio-oil. The effect of various reaction conditions on bio-oil properties were presented in detail. (author)

Pressure vessels are closed containers designed to hold gases or liquids at a pressure substantially different from the ambient pressure. They have a variety of applications in industry, including in oil refineries, nuclear reactors, vehicle airbrake reservoirs, and more. The pressure differential with such vessels is dangerous, and due to the risk of accident and fatality around their use, the design, manufacture, operation and inspection of pressure vessels is regulated by engineering authorities and guided by legal codes and standards. Pressure Vessel Design Manual is a solutions-focused guide to the many problems and technical challenges involved in the design of pressure vessels to match stringent standards and codes. It brings together otherwise scattered information and explanations into one easy-to-use resource to minimize research and take readers from problem to solution in the most direct manner possible. * Covers almost all problems that a working pressure vessel designer can expect to face, with ...

The present invention concerns a method of transferring regular shaped vessels from a non-contaminated area to a contaminated cell. A passage hole for allowing the regular shaped vessels to pass in the longitudinal direction is formed to a partitioning wall at the bottom of the contaminated cell. A plurality of regular shaped vessel are stacked in multiple stages in a vertical direction from the non-contaminated area present below the passage hole, allowed to pass while being urged and transferred successively into the contaminated cell. As a result, since they are transferred while substantially closing the passage hole by the regular shaped vessels, radiation rays or contaminated materials are prevented from discharging from the contaminated cell to the non-contaminated area. Since there is no requirement to open/close an isolation door frequently, the workability upon transfer can be improved remarkably. In addition, the sealing member for sealing the gap between the regular shaped vessel passing through the passage hole and the partitioning wall of the bottom is disposed to the passage hole, the contaminated materials in the contaminated cells can be prevented from discharging from the gap to the non-contaminated area. (N.H.)

The increasing popularity of inhaling cocaine vapor prompted the present study, to determine cocaine's fate during this process. The free base of [3H]cocaine (1 microCi/50 mg) was added to a glass pipe, which was then heated in a furnace to simulate freebasing. Negative pressure was used to draw the vapor through a series of glass wool, ethanol, acidic, and basic traps. Air flow rate and temperature were found to have profound effects on the volatilization and pyrolysis of cocaine. At a temperature of 260 degrees C and a flow rate of 400 mL/min, 37% of the radioactivity remained in the pipe, 39% was found in the glass wool trap, and less than 1% in the remainder of the volatilization apparatus after a 10-min volatilization. Reducing the air flow rate to 100 mL/min reduced the amount of radioactivity collected in the glass wool trap to less than 10% of the starting material and increased the amount that remained in the pipe to 58%. GC/MS analysis of the contents of the glass wool trap after volatilization at 260 degrees C and a flow rate of 400 mL/min revealed that 60% of the cocaine remained intact, while approximately 6 and 2% of the starting material was recovered as benzoic acid and methylecgonidine, respectively. As the temperature was increased to 650 degrees C, benzoic acid and methylecgonidine accounted for 83 and 89% of the starting material, respectively, whereas only 2% of the cocaine remained intact. Quantitation of cocaine in the vapor during the course of volatilization revealed high concentrations during the first two min and low concentrations for the remaining time

In this study, pinewood has been pyrolyzed using a fixed heating rate with a variable end-temperature. The pyrolysis process has been simulated using a mechanism with three parallel reactions for the formation of char, gas and tar. First order irreversible kinetics is assumed. This kind of model...... may predict the variation of product yield with operating conditions such as temperature and heating rate. The system of coupled differential equations describing the pyrolysis process is solved using the software DYMOLA. Various literature values for kinetic parameters have been compared...

...), narcotics, aliens, and other contraband, and other criminals. Small vessels have also been successfully employed overseas by terrorists to deliver Waterborne Improvised Explosive Devices (WBIEDs...

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — German vessels observations, after the 1853 Brussels Conference that set International Maritime Standards, modeled after Maury Marine Standard Observations.

In nuclear power reactor systems which have a reactor core inside a pressure vessel, the feedwater inlet pipe and steam discharge nozzle usually require separate pressure vessel penetrations. This requirement involves a great deal of expensive high quality special machining, welding and weld joint testing. The invention overcomes most of these problems by nestling the feedwater inlet pipe inside the steam discharge nozzle. At the same time the individual heat exchanger modules are supported from the pressure vessel at the same location as the nested feedwater inlet pipe and steam discharge nozzle combination, thus eliminating the need to accomodate troublesome differential thermal expansion problems through special structures within the pressure vessel

The Toroidal Vessel provides the vacuum enclosure for containing the high temperature steady state plasma. In addition, the Toroidal Vessel must provide several viewing ports for plasma diagnostics, vacuum pumping ports for both high vacuum and roughing vacuum, feed-through ports for ECRH waveguides, limiter feed throughs for cooling and supporting the limiters, and ports for ion gages. The vessel must operate in an intense environment comprised of x-rays, microwaves, magnetic fields and plasma heat loads as well as the atmosphere pressure and gravity loads and the internal thermal stress loads due to heating and cooling of the torus. A key issue addressed was the choice of vacuum vesselseal and wall materials. In addition, during the course of the study, ORNL requested that horsecollar diagnostic ports be incorporated in the design. A comprehensive trade study was performed considering the vessel material issues in concert with the impact of the horsecollar port design. A change in baseline from an aluminum vessel with elastomer seals and circular diagnostic ports to austenitic stainless steel vessel with metal seals and horsecollar ports was agreed upon by both MDAC and ORNL towards the end of Title I

A modern reactor recirculation pump circulates a large volume of high temperature, very pure water from the reactor pressure vessel back to the core. A crucial technical problem with a recirculation pump, such as a mechanical seal indicating loss of sealing pressure, may result in a power station having to shut down for repair. The paper describes the sudden increase in stray current phenomenon leading to rapid and severe deterioration of the mechanical end face shaft seal in a reactor recirculation pump. This occurred after the installation of a variable frequency converter replacing the original motorgenerator set.

A modern reactor recirculation pump circulates a large volume of high temperature, very pure water from the reactor pressure vessel back to the core. A crucial technical problem with a recirculation pump, such as a mechanical seal indicating loss of sealing pressure, may result in a power station having to shut down for repair. The paper describes the sudden increase in stray current phenomenon leading to rapid and severe deterioration of the mechanical end face shaft seal in a reactor recirculation pump. This occurred after the installation of a variable frequency converter replacing the original motorgenerator set.

In a continuing effort to increase readiness, a new approach to sealing integral fuel tanks is being developed. The technique seals potential leak sources by spraying elastomeric materials inside the tank cavity. Laboratory evaluations project an increase in aircraft supportability and reliability, an improved maintainability, decreasing acquisition and life cycle costs. Increased usable fuel volume and lower weight than conventional bladders improve performance. Concept feasibility was demonstrated on sub-scale aircraft fuel tanks. Materials were selected by testing sprayable elastomers in a fuel tank environment. Chemical stability, mechanical properties, and dynamic durability of the elastomer are being evaluated at the laboratory level and in sub-scale and full scale aircraft component fatigue tests. The self sealing capability of sprayable materials is also under development. Ballistic tests show an improved aircraft survivability, due in part to the elastomer's mechanical properties and its ability to damp vibrations. New application equipment, system removal, and repair methods are being investigated.

Full Text Available Throughout the past few decades, rehabilitation of seals has become an activity that is anchored in the present day society of many countries. Seals are primarily rehabilitated to help individual animals in distress. At the same time, the release of seals which would have otherwise died can be considered as a contribution to the population. Most rehabilitated seals are animals under one year of age. They are mainly orphans, weaned seals with complications and seals with a parasiticbronchopneumonia. For the optimal handling of seals and their diseases, centralised operations with quality standards are essential. Rehabilitation provides an instrument to monitor the health of the seal population and its ecosystem. Changes in stranding trends or the appearance of new diseases can be monitored. Moreover, rehabilitation is important to show the general public thestate of the marine environment. In the Netherlands there is significant social support for the rehabilitation of seals. Experience obtained with seal care is of importance in countries where urgent help of threatened seal species is required. Here individual seals are also ambassadors to raise support for the protection of this species in general. Given that the anthropogenic impact on the seals and their environment is extensive in the Wadden Sea, rehabilitation centres can compensate the consequences of this impact on individual seals as well as the population as a whole.

Processes for producing reduced acid lignocellulosic-derived pyrolysis oil are provided. In a process, lignocellulosic material is fed to a heating zone. A basic solid catalyst is delivered to the heating zone. The lignocellulosic material is pyrolyzed in the presence of the basic solid catalyst in the heating zone to create pyrolysis gases. The oxygen in the pyrolysis gases is catalytically converted to separable species in the heating zone. The pyrolysis gases are removed from the heating zone and are liquefied to form the reduced acid lignocellulosic-derived pyrolysis oil.

A modern reactor recirculation pump circulates a large volume of high temperature, very pure water from the reactor pressure vessel back to the core by feeding into multiple stationary jet pumps inside the vessel. Together with the jet pumps, they allow station operators to vary coolant flow and variable pump speed provides the best and most stable reactor power control. A crucial technical problem with a recirculation pump, such as a mechanical seal indicating loss of sealing pressure, may result in a power station having to shut down for repair. This article describes the sudden increase in stray current phenomenon leading to rapid and severe deterioration of the mechanical end face shaft seal in a reactor recirculation pump. This occurred after the installation of a variable frequency converter replacing the original motor-generator set. This article will also discuss the 2,500 hour laboratory test results conducted under reactor recirculation pump sealing conditions using a newly developed seal face technology recently implemented to overcome challenges when sealing neutral, ultra-pure water. In addition, the article will describe the elaborate shaft grounding arrangement and the preliminary measurement results achieved in order to eliminate potential damages to both pump and mechanical seal.

An interstage seal for a turbine of a gas turbine engine, the interstage seal having a seal carrier with an axial extending seal tooth movable with a stator of the engine, and a rotor with a seal surface that forms the interstage seal with the seal tooth, where a magnetic force produced by two magnets and a gas force produced by a gas pressure acting on the seal carrier forms a balancing force to maintain a close clearance of the seal without the seal tooth contacting the rotor seal surfaces during engine operation. In other embodiments, two pairs of magnets produce first and second magnetic forces that balance the seal in the engine.

Full Text Available The exponential increase of plastic production produces 100 million tonnes of waste plastics annually which could be converted into hydrocarbon fuels in a thermal cracking process called pyrolysis. In this research work, a direct current (DC thermal plasma circuit is designed and used for conversion of low density polyethylene (LDPE into diesel oil in a laboratory scale pyrolysis reactor. The experimental setup uses a 270 W DC thermal plasma at operating temperatures in the range of 625 °C to 860 °C for a low density polyethylene (LDPE pyrolysis reaction at pressure = −0.95, temperature = 550 °C with τ = 30 min at a constant heating rate of 7.8 °C/min. The experimental setup consists of a vacuum pump, closed system vessel, direct current (DC plasma circuit, and a k-type thermocouple placed a few millimeters from the reactant sample. The hydrocarbon products are condensed to diesel oil and analyzed using flame ionization detector (FID gas chromatography. The analysis shows 87.5% diesel oil, 1,4-dichlorobenzene (Surr, benzene, ethylbenzene and traces of toluene and xylene. The direct current (DC thermal plasma achieves 56.9 wt. % of diesel range oil (DRO, 37.8 wt. % gaseous products and minimal tar production. The direct current (DC thermal plasma shows reliability, better temperature control, and high thermal performance as well as the ability to work for long operation periods.

A lightweight, low permeability liner for graphite epoxy composite compressed gas storage vessels. The liner is composed of polymers that may or may not be coated with a thin layer of a low permeability material, such as silver, gold, or aluminum, deposited on a thin polymeric layer or substrate which is formed into a closed bladder using torispherical or near torispherical end caps, with or without bosses therein, about which a high strength to weight material, such as graphite epoxy composite shell, is formed to withstand the storage pressure forces. The polymeric substrate may be laminated on one or both sides with additional layers of polymeric film. The liner may be formed to a desired configuration using a dissolvable mandrel or by inflation techniques and the edges of the film seamed by heat sealing. The liner may be utilized in most any type of gas storage system, and is particularly applicable for hydrogen, gas mixtures, and oxygen used for vehicles, fuel cells or regenerative fuel cell applications, high altitude solar powered aircraft, hybrid energy storage/propulsion systems, and lunar/Mars space applications, and other applications requiring high cycle life.

Highlights: • The discussion emphasizes the use of biomass wastes in the co-pyrolysis process. • The co-pyrolysis can significantly improve the quantity and quality of pyrolysis oil. • Co-pyrolysis technique is more profitable than the pyrolysis of biomass alone. • By using this method, the volume of biomass wastes can be easily controlled. - Abstract: The oil produced by the pyrolysis of biomass has potential for use as a substitute for fossil fuels. However, the oil needs to be upgraded since it contains high levels of oxygen, which causes low caloric value, corrosion problems, and instability. Generally, upgrading the pyrolysis oil involves the addition of a catalyst, solvent and large amount hydrogen, which can cost more than the oil itself. In this regard, the co-pyrolysis technique offers simplicity and effectiveness in order to produce a high-grade pyrolysis oil. Co-pyrolysis is a process which involves two or more materials as feedstock. Many studies have shown that the use of co-pyrolysis is able to improve the characteristics of pyrolysis oil, e.g. increase the oil yield, reduce the water content, and increase the caloric value of oil. Besides, the use of this technique also contributed to reduce the production cost and solve some issues on waste management. This article tried to review the co-pyrolysis process through several points of view, including the process mechanism, feedstock, the exploration on co-pyrolysis studies, co-pyrolysis phenomena, characteristics of byproducts, and economic assessment. Additionally, several outlooks based on studies in the literature are also presented in this paper

Highlights: • The primarily pyrolysis composition of PKS lignin was p-hydroxyphenyl unit. • Higher phenol yield and lower gas energy yield were obtained from PKS pyrolysis. • PKS produced more bio-oil and biochar than WS and PS from pyrolysis at 650–850 °C. • PKS-char had poorer gasification reactivity due to higher ordering carbon degree. - Abstract: The lignin monomer composition of palm kernel shell (PKS) was characterized using pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS), and the characteristics and distributions of products obtained from PKS pyrolysis were investigated using Py-GC/MS, GC, and a specially designed pyrolysis apparatus. The gasification reactivity of PKS biochar was also characterized using thermogravimetry (TG) and Raman spectroscopy. All the results were compared with those obtained from wheat straw (WS) and pine sawdust (PS). The results showed that PKS lignin is primarily composed of p-hydroxyphenyl structural units, while WS and PS lignins are mainly made up of guaiacyl units. Both the mass and energy yields of non-condensable gases from PKS pyrolysis were lower than those obtained from WS and PS pyrolysis at 650–850 °C, owing to the lower volatile content (75.21%) and lack of methoxy groups in PKS. Compared with WS and PS, higher bio-oil productivity was observed during PKS pyrolysis. Phenols were the main component of PKS bio-oil from pyrolysis at 500 °C, and the phenol content of PKS bio-oil (13.49%) was higher than in WS bio-oil (1.62%) and PS bio-oil (0.55%). A higher yield of biochar (on an ash-free basis) was also obtained from PKS pyrolysis. Because of its greater relative degree of ordered carbon, PKS biochar exhibited lower in situ reactivity during CO 2 or H 2 O gasification than WS and PS biochars. A longer residence time and addition of steam were found to be beneficial during PKS biochar gasification.

A method for forming a monolithic seal frame and lid for use with a substrate and electronic circuitry comprises the steps of forming a mandrel from a ceramic and glass based material, forming a seal frame and lid block from a ceramic and glass based material, creating a seal frame and lid by forming a compartment and a plurality of sidewalls in the seal frame and lid block, placing the seal frame and lid on the mandrel such that the mandrel fits within the compartment, and cofiring the seal frame and lid block.

The EBR-II rotating plug seals require frequent cleaning and maintenance to keep the plugs from sticking during fuel handling. Time consuming cleaning on the cover gas and air sides of the dip ring seal is required to remove oxidation and sodium reaction products that accumulate and stop plug rotation. Despite severely limited access, effective seal cleaning techniques have removed 11 800 lb (5 352 kg) of deposits from the seals since 1964. Temperature control modifications and repairs have also required major maintenance work. Suggested seal design recommendations could significantly reduce maintenance on future similar seals

This paper outlines the principles of thermal plasma pyrolysis processes and discusses recent research activities about organic waste treatment using thermal plasma pyrolysis technology. Different kinds of organic wastes, varying from plastic and used tires to agricultural residue and medical waste, have been subjected to thermal plasma pyrolysis tests in laboratory and pilot scale projects. Plasma pyrolysis of organic waste usually gives two product streams: a combustible gas having a calorific value in the range of 4-9 MJ/Nm 3 and a carbonaceous residue. Pyrolysis conditions as well as some technical measures such as the quenching process and steam reforming have significant influences on the properties of these pyrolysis products. Research results indicated that thermal plasma pyrolysis may be a useful way of waste management for energy and material recovery

The present invention discloses a mating ring, a primary ring, and associated mechanical seal having superior heat transfer and wear characteristics. According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, one or more dimples are formed onto the cylindrical outer surface of a mating ring sidewall and/or a primary ring sidewall. A stationary mating ring for a mechanical seal assembly is disclosed. Such a mating ring comprises an annular body having a central axis and a sealing face, wherein a plurality of dimples are formed into the outer circumferential surface of the annular body such that the exposed circumferential surface area of the annular body is increased. The texture added to the sidewall of the mating ring yields superior heat transfer and wear characteristics.

The paper presents a seal flow analysis in a hydrostatic non-contact seal for a PWR coolant pump shaft. A description is given of the non-contact seal for the reactor coolant pump. Results are presented for a distortion analysis of the seal ring, along with the seal flow characteristics and the contact pressure profiles of the secondary seals. The results of the work confirm previously reported findings that the seal ring distortion is sensitive to the o-ring location (which was placed between the ceramic seal face and the seal ring retainer). The paper concludes that the seal flow characteristics and the tracking performance depend upon the dynamic properties of the secondary seal. (U.K.)

Abstract of WO 9717570 (A1) The invention is directed to a wheel-shaped pressure-resistant vessel for gaseous, liquid or liquefied material having a substantially rigid shape, said vessel comprising a substantially continuous shell of a fiber-reinforced resin having a central opening, an inner

Sealed sources are known quantities of radioactive materials that have been encapsulated in quantities that produce known radiation fields. Sealed sources have multiple uses ranging from instrument calibration sources to sources that produce radiation fields for experimental applications. The Off-Site Source Recovery (OSR) Project at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), created in 1999, under the direction of the Waste Management Division of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Albuquerque has been assigned the responsibility to recover and manage excess and unwanted radioactive sealed sources from the public and private sector. LANL intends to ship drums containing qualified sealed sources to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) for disposal. Prior to shipping, these drums must be characterized with respect to radiological content and other parameters. The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires that ten radionulcides be quantified and reported for every container of waste to be disposed in the WIPP. The methods traditionally approved by the EPA include non-destructive assay (NDA) in accordance with Appendix A of the Contact-Handled Transuranic Waste Acceptance Criteria for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (DOE, 2002) (CH WAC). However, because of the nature and pedigree of historical records for sealed sources and the technical infeasibility of performing NDA on these sources, LANL proposes to characterize the content of these waste drums using qualified existing radiological data in lieu of direct measurement. This plan describes the process and documentation requirements for the use of the peer review process to qualify existing data for sealed radiological sources in lieu of perfonning radioassay. The peer review process will be performed in accordance with criteria provided in 40 CFR (section) 194.22 which specifies the use of the NUREG 1297 guidelines. The plan defines the management approach, resources, schedule, and technical requirements

This report summarizes the final stage of the NERDDP-funded work on coal liquefaction by flash pyrolysis. A working model pyrolyser, simulating a full-scale unit, has been operated over extended periods with Liddell and Piercefield (NSW), Acland, Millmerran and Macalister (Qld), and Loy Yang (Vic) coals. For several of the coals pyrolysed process heat was generated by combustion of some of the by-product char. Tar from Millmerran, Piercefield, Loy Yang, and Yallourn coals, produced in a separate pilot-scale pyrolyser, have been hydrogenated in continuous reactors to produce synthetic crude oils. Chars from Millmerran and Macalister sub-bituminous coals have been burned in the pilot-scale furnace with results as satisfactory as for the parent coals. The report shows that the flash pyrolysis method of making oil from coal is technically feasible, but cost studies show that in the present economic environment this method produces oil some three to four times more costly than natural oil. The report includes a summary of the overall CSIRO project of which this project formed a part, with emphasis on recent work of significance: e.g. methods of control of coke lay-down on tar hydrogenation catalysts; the combustion reactivity of pyrolysis chars; and various alternative uses of the flash pyrolysis method. Also included is an outline of related work carried out in other Australian and overseas laboratories, and a complete (to end of 1985) bibliography of all publications arising from the project.

In the research, thermogravimetry (TG), a combination of thermogravimetry and Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (TGâFTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used to investigate pyrolysis characteristics of moso bamboo (Phyllostachys pubescens). The FlynnâWallâOzawa and CoatsâRedfern (modified) methods were used to determine the apparent activation energy (

Hot, non-oxygenous gas at carefully controlled quantities and at predetermined depths in a bed of lump oil shale provides pyrolysis of the contained kerogen of the oil shale, and cool non-oxygenous gas is passed up through the bed to conserve the heat

On the basis of an analysis of thermal methods described in the literature and from the results of experimental investigations of steam conversion, the authors have developed and created a facility for thermal processing of rubber waste. Rubber crumb was used as the raw material; the temperature in the reactor was 500°C; nitrogen, steam, and a mixture of light hydrocarbons (noncondensable part of pyrolysis products) represented the working medium. The pyrolysis yielded 36-38% of a solid fraction, 54-56% of a liquid hydrocarbon fraction, and 6-9% of noncondensable gases. Changes in the composition of the gas mixture have been determined at different stages of processing. Gas chromatography of pyrolysis gases has shown that the basic gases produced by pyrolysis are H2 and hydrocarbons C2H4, C3H6, C3H8, C4H8, C2H6, C3H6O2, and C4H10, and a small amount of H2S, CO, and CO2. Noncondensable gases will be used as a fuel to heat the reactor and to implement the process.

A new family of aluminosilicate zeolites designated UZM-44 has been synthesized. These zeolites are represented by the empirical formula Na.sub.nM.sub.m.sup.k+T.sub.tAl.sub.1-xE.sub.xSi.sub.yO.sub.z where "n" is the mole ratio of Na to (Al+E), M represents a metal or metals from zinc, Group 1, Group 2, Group 3 and or the lanthanide series of the periodic table, "m" is the mole ratio of M to (Al+E), "k" is the average charge of the metal or metals M, T is the organic structure directing agent or agents, and E is a framework element such as gallium. The process involves contacting a carbonaceous biomass feedstock with UZM-44 at pyrolysis conditions to produce pyrolysis gases comprising hydrocarbons. The catalyst catalyzes a deoxygenation reaction converting oxygenated hydrocarbons into hydrocarbons and removing the oxygen as carbon oxides and water. A portion of the pyrolysis gases is condensed to produce low oxygen biomass-derived pyrolysis oil.

During pyrolysis of pure cellulose, the Crystallinity Index (Crl) remained fairly constant over more than 50% weight loss before dropping rapidly as the X-ray pattern deteriorated. With samples first treated with trace quantities of inorganic salts, heating first increased the Crlâthe results implying a preferentially catalyzed decomposition of the amorphous regions....

A system for draining a containment vessel may include a drain inlet located in a lower portion of the containment vessel. The containment vessel may be at least partially filled with a liquid, and the drain inlet may be located below a surface of the liquid. The system may further comprise an inlet located in an upper portion of the containment vessel. The inlet may be configured to insert pressurized gas into the containment vessel to form a pressurized region above the surface of the liquid, and the pressurized region may operate to apply a surface pressure that forces the liquid into the drain inlet. Additionally, a fluid separation device may be operatively connected to the drain inlet. The fluid separation device may be configured to separate the liquid from the pressurized gas that enters the drain inlet after the surface of the liquid falls below the drain inlet.

A hydrodynamic sealing assembly including a first component having first and second walls and a peripheral wall defining a seal groove, a second component having a rotatable surface relative to said first component, and a hydrodynamic seal comprising a seal body of generally ring-shaped configuration having a circumference. The seal body includes hydrodynamic and static sealing lips each having a cross-sectional area that substantially vary in time with each other about the circumference. In an uninstalled condition, the seal body has a length defined between first and second seal body ends which varies in time with the hydrodynamic sealing lip cross-sectional area. The first and second ends generally face the first and second walls, respectively. In the uninstalled condition, the first end is angulated relative to the first wall and the second end is angulated relative to the second wall. The seal body has a twist-limiting surface adjacent the static sealing lip. In the uninstalled condition, the twist-limiting surface is angulated relative to the peripheral wall and varies along the circumference. A seal body discontinuity and a first component discontinuity mate to prevent rotation of the seal body relative to the first component.

Self-sealing fitting for cryogenic tubes remains free of leakage from room temperature to liquid-helium temperature even at internal pressure as high as 2.7 MPa. Fitting comprises parts made of materials with different coefficients of thermal expansion to prevent leakage gaps from forming as temperature decreases. Consists of coupling nut, two flared tube ends, and flared O-ring spacer. Spacer contracts more than tube ends do as temperature decreases. This greater contraction seals tube ends more tightly, preventing leakage.

The harbour seal Phoca vitulina and the grey seal Halichoerus grypus have been inhabitants of the Wadden Sea since millennia. Prehistoric findings indicate the presence of both species around 5000 BC. This changed dramatically in the mid Middle-Ages as around 1500 AC, the grey seal disappeared from the Wadden Sea as a consequence of persecution. With growing hunting pressure, especially in the 20th century and concurrent habitat destruction and pollution, the harbour seals reached all time lo...

A zeolite catalyst of ultrastable Y-type (USY) was investigated in the research of two staged pyrolysis-catalysis of scrap tyres. Scrap tyres were pyrolysed in a fixed bed reactor and the evolved pyrolysis gases were passed through a secondary catalytic reactor. The main objective of this paper was to investigate the effect of zeolite USY on the yield of products and the composition of derived oil. The influences of several parameters such as pyrolysis temperature, catalytic temperature, catalyst/tyre ratio, heating rate, etc. on the yield of the derived oil, char and gas were investigated. It showed that the increase of catalytic temperature and catalyst/tyre ratio resulted in high yield of gas at the expense of the oil yield. For example, when the catalyst/tyre ratio increased from 0.25 to 1.0, the yield of gas increased from 30.5 to 49.9 wt.%, and the oil yield decreased nearly two-fold from 31.6 to 12.7 wt.%. The concentration of light naphtha (boiling point < 160 deg. C) was also investigated in this study. And the high catalyst/tyre ratio favored to increase the concentration of light naphtha (<160 deg. C) in oil. In order to study the composition of derived oil, a distilled fraction (<280 deg. C), which was 92.5 wt.% of the oil obtained from catalytic pyrolysis of scrap tyre at a pyrolysis temperature, catalytic temperature and catalyst/tyre ratio of 500, 400 deg. C and 0.5, respectively, was analyzed with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The distillate was found to contain 1.23 wt.% benzene, 9.35 wt.% toluene, 3.68 wt.% ethylbenzene, 12.64 wt.% xylenes, 1.81 wt.% limonene and 13.89 wt.% PAHs, etc., where the single ring aromatics represented a significant potential use as chemicals

Thiophenic sulfur compounds are released during coal gasification, carbonization, and combustion. Previous studies indicate that thiophenic sulfur compounds degrade very slowly in the environment, and are more carcinogenic than polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and nitrogenous compounds. Therefore, it is very important to study the principle of thiophenic sulfur compounds during coal conversion, in order to control their emission and promote clean coal utilization. To realize this goal and understand the formation mechanism of thiophenic sulfur compounds, this study focused on the release behavior of thiophenic sulfur compounds during coal pyrolysis, which is an important phase for all coal thermal conversion processes. The pyrolyzer (CDS-5250) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Focus GC-DSQII) were used to analyze thiophenic sulfur compounds in situ . Several coals with different coal ranks and sulfur contents were chosen as experimental samples, and thiophenic sulfur compounds of the gas produced during pyrolysis under different temperatures and heating rates were investigated. Levels of benzothiophene and dibenzothiophene were obtained during pyrolysis at temperatures ranging from 200°C to 1300°C, and heating rates ranging from 6°C/ms to 14°C/ms and 6°C/s to 14°C/s. Moreover, the relationship between the total amount of benzothiophene and dibenzothiophene released during coal pyrolysis and the organic sulfur content in coal was also discussed. This study is beneficial for understanding the formation and control of thiophenic sulfur compounds, since it provides a series of significant results that show the impact that operation conditions and organic sulfur content in coal have on the amount and species of thiophenic sulfur compounds produced during coal pyrolysis.

Abstract Thiophenic sulfur compounds are released during coal gasification, carbonization, and combustion. Previous studies indicate that thiophenic sulfur compounds degrade very slowly in the environment, and are more carcinogenic than polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and nitrogenous compounds. Therefore, it is very important to study the principle of thiophenic sulfur compounds during coal conversion, in order to control their emission and promote clean coal utilization. To realize this goal and understand the formation mechanism of thiophenic sulfur compounds, this study focused on the release behavior of thiophenic sulfur compounds during coal pyrolysis, which is an important phase for all coal thermal conversion processes. The pyrolyzer (CDS-5250) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (Focus GC-DSQII) were used to analyze thiophenic sulfur compounds in situ. Several coals with different coal ranks and sulfur contents were chosen as experimental samples, and thiophenic sulfur compounds of the gas produced during pyrolysis under different temperatures and heating rates were investigated. Levels of benzothiophene and dibenzothiophene were obtained during pyrolysis at temperatures ranging from 200°C to 1300°C, and heating rates ranging from 6°C/ms to 14°C/ms and 6°C/s to 14°C/s. Moreover, the relationship between the total amount of benzothiophene and dibenzothiophene released during coal pyrolysis and the organic sulfur content in coal was also discussed. This study is beneficial for understanding the formation and control of thiophenic sulfur compounds, since it provides a series of significant results that show the impact that operation conditions and organic sulfur content in coal have on the amount and species of thiophenic sulfur compounds produced during coal pyrolysis. PMID:23781126

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains records for all handling and measurement of Hawaiian monk seals since 1981. Live seals are handled and measured during a variety of events...

A seal assembly for a rotary machine is provided. The seal assembly includes multiple sealing device segments disposed circumferentially intermediate to a stationary housing and a rotor. Each of the segments includes a shoe plate with a forward-shoe section and an aft-shoe section having one or more labyrinth teeth therebetween facing the rotor. The sealing device includes a stator interface element having a groove or slot for allowing disposal of a spline seal for preventing segment leakages. The sealing device segment also includes multiple bellow springs or flexures connected to the shoe plate and to the stator interface element. Further, the sealing device segments include a secondary seal integrated with the stator interface element at one end and positioned about the multiple bellow springs or flexures and the shoe plate at the other end.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set documents observers that have collected monk seal data as part of the ongoing monk seal population assessment efforts by PSD personnel and cooperating...

A troublesome operating history for hydrostatic seals in reactor coolant pumps motivates an investigation of the dynamics of a typical seal system. A dynamic model of the seal ring is formulated and the response of the seal to transient and steady excitation is analyzed. The model is capable of treating response of the seal ring to excitation by both pressure fluctuations at the faceplate and/or axial motion of the shaft. It also includes the effects of friction between the secondary seal and the mating insert. Damping, inherent in the fluid film between the seal faceplates, is considered by including dynamic pressure variations due to squeeze. A typical hydrostatic seal is analyzed in the numerical applications to study the interrelation between the design parameters, the stability of the system, and the potential contact between the stationery and rotating faces

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The data set contains records of all entanglements of Hawaiian monk seals in marine debris. The data set comprises records of seals entangled by derelict fishing...

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This project investigates foraging behavior of Hawaiian monk seals by conducting telemetry studies. During these studies, live seals are instrumented with dive...

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Ultrasound images for measuring the condition of juvenile seals at Laysan Island during 2009-2010, collected when seals were handled as part of the De-Worming Project

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This project investigates foraging behavior of Hawaiian monk seals by conducting telemetry studies. During these studies, live seals are instrumented with dive...

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This project investigates foraging behavior of Hawaiian monk seals by conducting telemetry studies. During these studies, live seals are instrumented with satellite...

In some implementations, apparatus and methods are provided through which a dynamic cryogenic seal is manufactured. In some implementations, the seal includes a retainer and a spring-seal assembly, the assembly being comprised of a main spring housing and fluorine-containing polymer seals. In some implementations, either a radial seal, or an axial (or "piston seal") is provided. In some implementations, methods of manufacturing the dynamic cryogenic seal are also provided. In some implementations, the methods include assembling the components while either heated or cooled, taking advantage of thermal expansion and contraction, such that there is a strong interference fit between the components at room temperature. In some implementations, this process ensures that the weaker fluorine-containing polymer seal is forced to expand and contract with the stronger retainer and spring and is under constant preload. In some implementations, the fluorine-containing polymer is therefore fluidized and retained, and can not lift off.

GRC is supporting JSC by developing LIDS main interface sealsSeal development and testing is occurring at both sub-scale and full-scale levels: a) Small-scale tests performed to define seal materials and evaluate exposure to space environments. b) Medium-scale testing: 1) Permits evaluation of candidate seal designs at faster pace than for full-scale seals. 2) Leak rates and loads can be scaled up to full-scale for indication of seal performance. c) Full-scale test rigs used for seal development and flight qualification tests and to assess on-orbit anomalies if needed. GRC responsible for delivering flight hardware seals to JSC approx.2013 for integration into LIDS flight units.

After implementing a few design modifications (referred to as the 'Modified Reference Design') in 2009, the Vacuum Vessel (VV) design had been stabilized. The VV design is being finalized, including interface components such as support rails and feedthroughs for the in-vessel coils. It is necessary to make adjustments to the locations of the blanket supports and manifolds to accommodate design modifications to the in-vessel coils. The VV support design is also being finalized considering a structural simplification. Design of the in-wall shielding (IWS) has progressed, considering the assembly methods and the required tolerances. The detailed layout of ferritic steel plates and borated steel plates was optimized based on the toroidal field ripple analysis. A dynamic test on the inter-modular key to support the blanket modules was performed to measure the dynamic amplification factor (DAF). An R and D program has started to select and qualify the welding and cutting processes for the port flange lip seal. The ITER VV material 316 L(N) IG was already qualified and the Modified Reference Design was approved by the Agreed Notified Body (ANB) in accordance with the Nuclear Pressure Equipment Order procedure.

Upon transferring an overpack having canisters containing high level radioactive wastes sealed therein and burying it into an underground processing hole, an outer shell vessel comprising a steel plate to be fit and contained in the processing hole is formed. A bury-back layer made of dug earth and sand which had been discharged upon forming the processing hole is formed on the inner circumferential wall of the outer shell vessel. A buffer layer having a predetermined thickness is formed on the inner side of the bury-back layer, and the overpack is contained in the hollow portion surrounded by the layer. The opened upper portion of the hollow portion is covered with the buffer layer and the bury-back layer. Since the processing vessel having a shielding performance previously formed on the ground, the state of packing can be observed. In addition, since an operator can directly operates upon transportation and burying of the high level radioactive wastes, remote control is no more necessary. (T.M.)

A support system for nuclear reactor pressure vessels which can withstand all possible combinations of stresses caused by a postulated core disrupting accident during reactor operation. The nuclear reactor pressure vessel is provided with a flange around the upper periphery thereof, and the flange includes an annular vertical extension formed integral therewith. A support ring is positioned atop of the support ledge and the flange vertical extension, and is bolted to both members. The plug riser is secured to the flange vertical extension and to the top of a radially outwardly extension of the rotatable plug. This system eliminates one joint through which fluids contained in the vessel could escape by making the fluid flow path through the joint between the flange and the support ring follow the same path through which fluid could escape through the plug risers. In this manner, the sealing means to prohibit the escape of contained fluids through the plug risers can also prohibit the escape of contained fluid through the securing joint.

School of Enviromental and Biological Science Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey New Brunswick, New Jersey 08903 Principal Investigator...strength, tack seals and seal creep. The following modifications were issued : Jan 20, 2004 0008/01 Add incremental funding to increase total...Technologies”. Most of the “commercial off the shelf” systems are designed to detect seal integrity issues , such as seal contamination, cuts and holes. A

Large CANDU plants are benefitting from transient-resistant four-year reliable reactor coolant pump seal lifetimes, a direct result of AECL's 20-year comprehensive seal improvement program involving R and D staff, manufacturers, and plant designers and operators. An overview of this program is presented, which covers seal modification design, testing, post-service examination, specialized maintenance and quality control. The relevancy of this technology to Light Water Reactor Coolant Pump Seals is also discussed

We studied a compact and simplified rotating plug seal structure and conducted experiments for key elements of the concept such us the mechanical seal structure and sodium deposit prevention system. Good characteristics were confirmed for the mechanical seal structure, which utilizes an elastomer seal and thin lathe bearing. Applicability of the density barrier concept was also confirmed as the sodium deposit prevention system. This concept can be applied to actual plants. (author)

We have begun to quantify the ability of acoustic resonance spectroscopy (ARS) to detect the removal and replacement of the lid of a simulated special nuclear materials drum. Conceptually, the acoustic spectrum of a container establishcs a baseline fingerprint, which we refer to as an intrinsic seal, for the container. Simply removing and replacing the lid changes some of the resonant frequencies because it is impossible to exactly duplicate all of the stress patterns between the lid and container. Preliminary qualitative results suggested that the ARS intrinsic seal could discriminate between cases where a lid has or has not been removed. The present work is directed at quantifying the utility of the ARS intrinsic seal technique, including the technique's sensitivity to ''nuisance'' effects, such as temperature swings, movement of the container, and placement of the transducers. These early quantitative tests support the potential of the ARS intrinsic seal application, but also reveal a possible sensitivity to nuisance effects that could limit environments or conditions under which the technique is effective

Full Text Available There has been an enormous amount of research in recent years in the area of thermo-chemical conversion of biomass into bio-fuels (bio-oil, bio-char and bio-gas through pyrolysis technology due to its several socio-economic advantages as well as the fact it is an efficient conversion method compared to other thermo-chemical conversion technologies. However, this technology is not yet fully developed with respect to its commercial applications. In this study, more than two hundred publications are reviewed, discussed and summarized, with the emphasis being placed on the current status of pyrolysis technology and its potential for commercial applications for bio-fuel production. Aspects of pyrolysis technology such as pyrolysis principles, biomass sources and characteristics, types of pyrolysis, pyrolysis reactor design, pyrolysis products and their characteristics and economics of bio-fuel production are presented. It is found from this study that conversion of biomass to bio-fuel has to overcome challenges such as understanding the trade-off between the size of the pyrolysis plant and feedstock, improvement of the reliability of pyrolysis reactors and processes to become viable for commercial applications. Further study is required to achieve a better understanding of the economics of biomass pyrolysis for bio-fuel production, as well as resolving issues related to the capabilities of this technology in practical application.

A variety of seals is used to close bags. Each seal has advantages and disadvantages. For shop assistants sealing bags could be a repetitive physically demanding action. Opening and closing the bags again can cause some discomfort or annoyance for consumers. Besides, it is an activity which can

..., in particular those handling large density fluids. Highlights on the bulk-flow analysis of annular seals are given with details on the performance of two water seals long and short, featuring the advantages of an anti-swirl brake to enhance the seal...

... signatures of principal and surety, if individuals, and the corporate seal shall be affixed close to the... law of the state in which executed. However, when the charter or governing statute of a corporation requires its acts to be evidenced by its corporate seal, such seal is required. ...

... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Seal. 901.6 Section 901.6 Parks, Forests, and Public Property PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION BYLAWS OF THE CORPORATION § 901.6 Seal. The Corporation may adopt a corporate seal which shall have the name of the...

In a piston rod seal for a Stirling engine, a hydrostatic bearing and differential pressure regulating valve are utilized to provide for a low pressure differential across a rubbing seal between the hydrogen and oil so as to reduce wear on the seal.

The present application provides an aerodynamic seal assembly for use with a turbo-machine. The aerodynamic seal assembly may include a number of springs, a shoe connected to the springs, and a secondary seal positioned about the springs and the shoe.

This paper presents a tribological tuft test method of candidate brush seal materials in viewgraph form. The goals of the research are: 1) To develop test method to tribologically brush seal materials; 2) To evaluate materials to identify potential improvements and trends; and 3) Guide seal material development and selection.

The in-core instrumentation sealing nozzles designed by Framatome have three mechanical seals in series instead of the one traditional seal, and are pressurized by simply tightening up the nozzle covers. They have been installed from the start on all Framatome PWRs, as well as having been backfitted on Belgium and Yugoslavian units and chosen for the Chinese Qinshan plant. (author)

Vibration dampers have been invented that are incorporated as components within the stationary labyrinth seal assembly. These dampers are intended to supplement other vibration-suppressing features of labyrinth seals in order to reduce the incidence of high-cycle-fatigue failures, which have been known to occur in the severe vibratory environments of jet engines and turbopumps in which labyrinth seals are typically used. A vibration damper of this type includes several leaf springs and/or a number of metallic particles (shot) all held in an annular seal cavity by a retaining ring. The leaf springs are made of a spring steel alloy chosen, in conjunction with design parameters, to maintain sufficient preload to ensure effectiveness of damping at desired operating temperatures. The cavity is vented via a small radial gap between the retaining ring and seal housing. The damping mechanism is complex. In the case of leaf springs, the mechanism is mainly friction in the slippage between the seal housing and individual dampers. In the case of a damper that contains shot, the damping mechanism includes contributions from friction between individual particles, friction between particles and cavity walls, and dissipation of kinetic energy of impact. The basic concept of particle/shot vibration dampers has been published previously; what is new here is the use of such dampers to suppress traveling-wave vibrations in labyrinth seals. Damping effectiveness depends on many parameters, including, but not limited to, coefficient of friction, mode shape, and frequency and amplitude of vibrational modes. In tests, preloads of the order of 6 to 15 lb (2.72 to 6.8 kilograms) per spring damper were demonstrated to provide adequate damping levels. Effectiveness of shot damping of vibrations having amplitudes from 20 to 200 times normal terrestrial gravitational acceleration (196 to 1,960 meters per square second) and frequencies up to 12 kHz was demonstrated for shot sizes from 0.032 to

Highlights: • MSW pyrolysis reactors, products and environmental impacts are reviewed. • MSW pyrolysis still has to deal with flue gas emissions and products’ contamination. • Definition of standardized products is suggested to formalize MSW pyrolysis technology. • Syngas is recommended to be the target product for single MSW pyrolysis technology. - Abstract: Pyrolysis has been examined as an attractive alternative to incineration for municipal solid waste (MSW) disposal that allows energy and resource recovery; however, it has seldom been applied independently with the output of pyrolysis products as end products. This review addresses the state-of-the-art of MSW pyrolysis in regards to its technologies and reactors, products and environmental impacts. In this review, first, the influence of important operating parameters such as final temperature, heating rate (HR) and residence time in the reaction zone on the pyrolysis behaviours and products is reviewed; then the pyrolysis technologies and reactors adopted in literatures and scale-up plants are evaluated. Third, the yields and main properties of the pyrolytic products from individual MSW components, refuse-derived fuel (RDF) made from MSW, and MSW are summarised. In the fourth section, in addition to emissions from pyrolysis processes, such as HCl, SO 2 and NH 3 , contaminants in the products, including PCDD/F and heavy metals, are also reviewed, and available measures for improving the environmental impacts of pyrolysis are surveyed. It can be concluded that the single pyrolysis process is an effective waste-to-energy convertor but is not a guaranteed clean solution for MSW disposal. Based on this information, the prospects of applying pyrolysis technologies to dealing with MSW are evaluated and suggested

Ketamine and xylazine were given to 55 southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) for stomach lavaging, and to three leopard seals (Hydrurga leptonyx). The elephant seals showed prolonged apnoea and two of them died owing to aspiration of stomach contents. Two of the leopard seals died from unknown causes. Tiletamine and zolazepam were given to five elephant seals and one leopard seal. Two of the elephant seals and the leopard seal died from unknown causes. Xylazine alone was administered to 34 leopard seals. Sedation was poor at low dose rates (less than 1.7 mg/kg) but four of the seals given higher dose rates died owing to the aspiration of stomach contents.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains catch (landed catch) and effort for fishing trips made by vessels that have been issued a Federal permit for the Gulf of Mexico reef fish,...

Vessel sewage discharges are regulated under Section 312 of the Clean Water Act, which is jointly implemented by the EPA and Coast Guard. This homepage links to information on marine sanitation devices and no discharge zones.

High Performance Marine Vessels (HPMVs) range from the Fast Ferries to the latest high speed Navy Craft, including competition power boats and hydroplanes, hydrofoils, hovercraft, catamarans and other multi-hull craft. High Performance Marine Vessels covers the main concepts of HPMVs and discusses historical background, design features, services that have been successful and not so successful, and some sample data of the range of HPMVs to date. Included is a comparison of all HPMVs craft and the differences between them and descriptions of performance (hydrodynamics and aerodynamics). Readers will find a comprehensive overview of the design, development and building of HPMVs. In summary, this book: Focuses on technology at the aero-marine interface Covers the full range of high performance marine vessel concepts Explains the historical development of various HPMVs Discusses ferries, racing and pleasure craft, as well as utility and military missions High Performance Marine Vessels is an ideal book for student...

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) are a navigation safety device that transmits and monitors the location and characteristics of many vessels in U.S. and...

A link and pin support system provides the primary vertical and lateral support for a nuclear reactor pressure vessel without restricting thermally induced radial and vertical expansion and contraction

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) are a navigation safety device that transmits and monitors the location and characteristics of many vessels in U.S. and...

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — U.S. vessels observations, after the 1853 Brussels Conference that set International Maritime Standards, modeled after Maury Marine Standard Observations.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) are a navigation safety device that transmits and monitors the location and characteristics of many vessels in U.S. and...

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) are a navigation safety device that transmits and monitors the location and characteristics of many vessels in U.S. and...

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Ocean Station Vessels (OSV) or Weather Ships captured atmospheric conditions while being stationed continuously in a single location. While While most of the...

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) are a navigation safety device that transmits and monitors the location and characteristics of many vessels in U.S. and...

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) are a navigation safety device that transmits and monitors the location and characteristics of many vessels in U.S. and...

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) are a navigation safety device that transmits and monitors the location and characteristics of many vessels in U.S. and...

This report summarizes testing of an alternate ''pressurized vessel slurry pumping'' apparatus. The principle is similar to rural domestic water systems and ''acid eggs'' used in chemical laboratories in that material is extruded by displacement with compressed air

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) are a navigation safety device that transmits and monitors the location and characteristics of many vessels in U.S. and...

The reactor pressure vessel flange is welded to the upper part of reactor pressure vessel, and there are stud holes to mount the closure head with stud bolts. The surface mating the closure head is compressed with O-ring, which acts as a sealing gasket to prevent coolant leakage. Bolted flange connections perform a very important structural role in the design of a reactor pressure vessel. Their importance stems from two important functions: (a) maintenance of the structural integrity of the connection itself, and (b) prevention of leakage through the O-ring preloaded by stud bolts. In the present study, an evaluation procedure for the design of stud bolt is developed to meet ASME code requirements. The developed design procedure could provide typical references in the development of advanced reactor design in the future

Los Alamos National Laboratory in J-1 DARHT Operations Group uses 6ft spherical vessels to contain hazardous materials produced in a hydrodynamic experiment. These contaminated vessels must be analyzed by means of a worker entering the vessel to locate, measure, and document every penetration mark on the vessel. If the worker can be replaced by a highly automated robotic system with a high precision scanner, it will eliminate the risks to the worker and provide management with an accurate 3D model of the vessel presenting the existing damage with the flexibility to manipulate the model for better and more in-depth assessment.The project was successful in meeting the primary goal of installing an automated system which scanned a 6ft vessel with an elapsed time of 45 minutes. This robotic system reduces the total time for the original scope of work by 75 minutes and results in excellent data accumulation and transmission to the 3D model imaging program.

The Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF) reactor vessel and the Clinch River Breeder Reactor Plant (CRBRP) reactor vessel each serve to enclose a fast spectrum reactor core, contain the sodium coolant, and provide support and positioning for the closure head and internal structure. Each vessel is located in its reactor cavity and is protected by a guard vessel which would ensure continued decay heat removal capability should a major system leak develop. Although the two plants have significantly different thermal power ratings, 400 megawatts for FFTF and 975 megawatts for CRBRP, the two reactor vessels are comparable in size, the CRBRP vessel being approximately 28% longer than the FFTF vessel. The FFTF vessel diameter was controlled by the space required for the three individual In-Vessel Handling Machines and Instrument Trees. Utilization of the triple rotating plug scheme for CRBRP refueling enables packaging of the larger CRBRP core in a vessel the same diameter as the FFTF vessel

Despite the rising consumption of energy over the last few decades, the proven reserves of fossil fuels have steadily increased. Additionally, there are potentially tremendous reserves of methane hydrates available, which remain to be exploited. The use of fossil energy sources is thus increasingly being dictated less by supply than by the environmental concerns raised by climate change. In the context of the decarbonisation of the global energy system that this has stimulated, new means must be explored for using methane as energy source. Noncatalytic thermal pyrolysis of methane is proposed here as a promising concept for utilising methane with low to zero carbon dioxide emissions. Following cracking, only the energy content of the hydrogen is used, while the carbon can be stored safely and retrievably in disused coal mines. The thermodynamics and different process engineering concepts for the technical realisation of such a carbon moratorium technology are discussed. The possible contribution of methane pyrolysis to carbon negative geoengineering is also addressed. (orig.)

A great need exists for comprehensive biomass-pyrolysis models that could predict yields and evolution patterns of selected volatile products as a function of feedstock characteristics and process conditions. A thermogravimetric analyzer coupled with Fourier transform infrared analysis of evolving products (TG-FTIR) can provide useful input to such models in the form of kinetic information obtained under low heating rate conditions. In this work, robust TG-FTIR quantification routes were developed for infrared analysis of volatile products relevant to biomass pyrolysis. The analysis was applied to wheat straw, three types of tobacco (Burley, Oriental, and Bright) and three biomass model compounds (xylan, chlorogenic acid, and D-glucose). Product yields were compared with literature data, and species potentially quantifiable by FT-IR are reviewed. Product-evolution patterns are reported for all seven biomass samples. 41 refs., 7 figs., 2 tabs.

Plasma pyrolysis of methane has been investigated for utility as a process for producing hydrogen. This process was conceived as a means of recovering hydrogen from methane produced as a byproduct of operation of a life-support system aboard a spacecraft. On Earth, this process, when fully developed, could be a means of producing hydrogen (for use as a fuel) from methane in natural gas. The most closely related prior competing process - catalytic pyrolysis of methane - has several disadvantages: a) The reactor used in the process is highly susceptible to fouling and deactivation of the catalyst by carbon deposits, necessitating frequent regeneration or replacement of the catalyst. b) The reactor is highly susceptible to plugging by deposition of carbon within fixed beds, with consequent channeling of flow, high pressure drops, and severe limitations on mass transfer, all contributing to reductions in reactor efficiency. c) Reaction rates are intrinsically low. d) The energy demand of the process is high.

Methods and apparatuses are provided for deoxygenating pyrolysis oil. A method includes contacting a pyrolysis oil with a deoxygenation catalyst in a first reactor at deoxygenation conditions to produce a first reactor effluent. The first reactor effluent has a first oxygen concentration and a first hydrogen concentration, based on hydrocarbons in the first reactor effluent, and the first reactor effluent includes an aromatic compound. The first reactor effluent is contacted with a dehydrogenation catalyst in a second reactor at conditions that deoxygenate the first reactor effluent while preserving the aromatic compound to produce a second reactor effluent. The second reactor effluent has a second oxygen concentration lower than the first oxygen concentration and a second hydrogen concentration that is equal to or lower than the first hydrogen concentration, where the second oxygen concentration and the second hydrogen concentration are based on the hydrocarbons in the second reactor effluent.

Two kinds of double cap metallic seal and an adhesive seal are developed for the purpose of the accounting for and control of nuclear material. Two kinds of double cap metallic seal are made of stainless steel and copper, respectively and the self-locked technique is used. The number and the random pattern are carved out side and in side of a cap, respectively, for the seal. The random pattern carved inside of a cap for seal is taken a picture using numeral camera and memorized in computer. Special software is developed for verification of the random pattern memorized in computer. The adhesive seal is made of special adhesive paper for purpose of security, and a special pattern guarded against falsification is printed on seal paper using ultraviolet fluorescent light technique

An air riding seal for a turbine in a gas turbine engine, where an annular piston is axial moveable within an annular piston chamber formed in a stator of the turbine and forms a seal with a surface on the rotor using pressurized air that forms a cushion in a pocket of the annular piston. A purge cavity is formed on the annular piston and is connected to a purge hole that extends through the annular piston to a lower pressure region around the annular piston or through the rotor to an opposite side. The annular piston is sealed also with inner and outer seals that can be a labyrinth seal to form an additional seal than the cushion of air in the pocket to prevent the face of the air riding seal from overheating.

Bipolar vesselsealing has been successfully introduced in a variety of procedures like prostatectomy, hysterectomy, and nephrectomy. In this study, we evaluated a new sealing mode-the thermoSEAL ® mode (TSM)-operated with the VIO3 generator in an ex vivo and in vivo animal study and compared the results with the commercially available BiClamp mode (BCM), operated with the VIO300D generator. Two different instruments were used in combination with both modes, BiCision ® and BiClamp ® 201T (Erbe Elektromedizin GmbH). In the ex vivo experiment, the sealing of renal arteries was evaluated using both instruments and modes. For the in vivo study, different types of arteries and veins were sealed using both modes and instruments in a side-by-side comparison for acute complications in a total of four animals. Mean burst pressure was in all cases significantly above 360 mmHg (p vivo setting was significantly shorter for TSM compared to BCM: BiCision ® (3.7 ± 0.4 vs. 7.1 ± 0.3 s; p vivo study was significantly shorter for TSM in combination with BiCision ® for arteries [TSM 3.0 ± 0.7 s vs. BCM 6.5 ± 1.3 s, (p 90%) were noted for both instruments and modes. While both modes used with two different instruments reveal high safety characterized by a high burst pressure, low thermal damage (ex vivo) zones, and high sealing rates (in vivo), the thermoSEAL ® mode convinces by its fast sealing speed probably helping to reduce operation time.

This work deals with the simulation of an olive pits fed rotary kiln pyrolysis plant installed in Southern Italy. The pyrolysis process was simulated by commercial software CHEMCAD. The main component of the plant, the pyrolyzer, was modelled by a Plug Flow Reactor in accordance to the kinetic laws. Products distribution and the temperature profile was calculated along reactor's axis. Simulation results have been found to fit well the experimental data of pyrolysis. Moreover, sensitivity anal...

A bibliographic review of 195 references is presented outlining the history of the research into the mechanisms of cellulose pyrolysis. Topics discussed are: initial product identification, mechanism of initial formation of levoglucosan, from cellulose and from related compounds, decomposition of cellulose to other compounds, formation of aromatics, pyrolysis of levoglucosan, crosslinking of cellulose, pyrolytic reactions of cellulose derivatives, and the effects of inorganic salts on the pyrolysis mechanism. (JSR)

A water inner circulation device for a reactor vessel comprising a pump mounted in the reactor vessel and driven by a water-cooled electric motor mounted in a housing outside the reactor vessel, the shaft of the pump passing through the reactor-vessel bottom and being coupled to the motor shaft in a member mechanically connected to the bottom of the reactor vessel in the vicinity of the motor housing, the pump shaft being surrounded by a resilient sealing ring, the reactor vessel communicating with the cooling channels of the pump, when the latter is operating, via a slot surrounding the pump hollow cylindrical shaft, characterized in that the slot inner end is used for/forming a circular space surrounding the pump shaft and surrounded by the motorhousing, in which is coaxially mounted a separating cylindral wall, the upper edge of which is tightly applied against the inner wall of the motor-housing to which it is fastened vertically, the inner surface of said wall being turned towards the outer surface of a circular packing-box, the outer surface of said separating wall constituting a separating radical inner surface for a circular chamber through which flow the motor cooling water. (author)

Full Text Available Wastes are the most frequent "by-product" of human society. The Czech Republic still has a considerable room for energy reduction and material intensiveness of production in connection with the application of scientific and technical expertise in the context of innovation cycles. Pyrolysis waste treatment is a promising alternative to the production of renewable hydrogen as a clean fuel. It can also reduce the environmental burden and the amount of waste in the environment at the same time.

Improved reactor serves as last stage in system processing metallurgical-grade silicon feedstock into silicon powder of ultrahigh purity. Silane pyrolized to silicon powder and hydrogen gas via homogeneous decomposition reaction in free space. Features set of individually adjustable electrical heaters and purge flow of hydrogen to improve control of pyrolysis conditions. Power supplied to each heater set in conjunction with flow in reactor to obtain desired distribution of temperature as function of position along reactor.

A zeolite catalyst of ultrastable Y-type (USY) was investigated in the research of two staged pyrolysis-catalysis of scrap tyres. Scrap tyres were pyrolysed in a fixed bed reactor and the evolved pyrolysis gases were passed through a secondary catalytic reactor. The main objective of this paper was to investigate the effect of zeolite USY on the yield of products and the composition of derived oil. The influences of several parameters such as pyrolysis temperature, catalytic temperature, catalyst/tyre ratio, heating rate, etc. on the yield of the derived oil, char and gas were investigated. It showed that the increase of catalytic temperature and catalyst/tyre ratio resulted in high yield of gas at the expense of the oil yield. For example, when the catalyst/tyre ratio increased from 0.25 to 1.0, the yield of gas increased from 30.5 to 49.9 wt.%, and the oil yield decreased nearly two-fold from 31.6 to 12.7 wt.%. The concentration of light naphtha (boiling point tyre ratio favored to increase the concentration of light naphtha (composition of derived oil, a distilled fraction (tyre at a pyrolysis temperature, catalytic temperature and catalyst/tyre ratio of 500, 400 degrees C and 0.5, respectively, was analyzed with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The distillate was found to contain 1.23 wt.% benzene, 9.35 wt.% toluene, 3.68 wt.% ethylbenzene, 12.64 wt.% xylenes, 1.81 wt.% limonene and 13.89 wt.% PAHs, etc., where the single ring aromatics represented a significant potential use as chemicals.

The Kattegat-Skagerrak region on the Swedish west coast is home to an abundant harbour seal population (Phoca vitulina) and a small scattered grey seal population (Halichoerus grypus). In addition, grey seal from the growing population in the Baltic Sea frequently migrate into the Kattegat-Skagerrak. Harbour seals on the west coast of Sweden show relatively high population growth (approximately 9%) compared to the Baltic grey seal in ice-free habitats (approximately 6%), which, in theory, makes harbour seal the stronger competitor of the two in this region. However, incidents of disease in harbour seals that lower population growth are becoming more frequent. These epidemics are primarily caused by the Phocine Distemper Virus (PDV), and may reduce population size with up to 70%. This study models the average development under potential scenarios of competing harbour- and Baltic grey seal populations using Leslie matrices and the Lotka-Volterra model of inter-specific competition. The model is parameterised with previously published data, and resource overlap is incorporated through density dependent pup survival. Using numerical methods short- and long-term abundances are simulated under weak, moderate and strong competition and for different frequencies of PDV epidemics. Results show that the harbour seals are resilient to competition while exerting a negative effect on grey seal abundance under moderate to strong competition. Hence Baltic grey seal benefit from weaker levels of competition. Under moderate and strong competition grey seal abundance is a direct function of the PDV frequency as this reduces the competitive strength of harbour seals. Theoretically this means that higher frequencies of PDV or other pathogens epidemics could facilitate an expansion of Baltic grey seal into Kattegat-Skagerrak. Independent of interaction strength and frequency of epidemics the projected changes to abundances are slow (50-100 years), and even in exceedingly stable

The task to design the pre-stressing facility for a pressure vessel, especially for nuclear reactors, wiht pre-stressed jacket and pre-stressing facility, the latter one showing circumferential steel tendons supported polygonally on the outer side of the jacket by means of supporting shoes, in such a way that simply defined tensions can be generated and re-tensioning of the tendons can be carried out easily is solved according to the invention by keeping the circumference of the steel tendons fixed and by designing the supporting shoes as stressing shoes. The defined tensions are applied through the stressing shoes. (ORU) [de

A pyrolysis/sublimation technique was developed to isolate volatile amine compounds from a Mars soil analogue inoculated with ˜10 billion Escherichia coli cells. In this technique, the inoculated soil is heated to 500°C for several seconds at Martian ambient pressure and the sublimate, collected by a cold finger, then analyzed using high performance liquid chromatography. Methylamine and ethylamine, produced from glycine and alanine decarboxylation, were the most abundant amine compounds detected after pyrolysis of the cells. A heating cycle similar to that utilized in our experiment was also used to release organic compounds from the Martian soil in the 1976 Viking gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) pyrolysis experiment. The Viking GC/MS did not detect any organic compounds of Martian origin above a level of a few parts per billion in the Martian surface soil. Although the Viking GC/MS instruments were not specifically designed to search for the presence of living cells on Mars, our experimental results indicate that at the part per billion level, the degradation products generated from several million bacterial cells per gram of Martian soil would not have been detected.

Flash pyrolysis oil from Ensyn Tech., Canada and Union Fenosa, Spain was combusted with simple pressure atomisation equipment commonly used with light fuel oils in intermediate size (0.1-1 MW) boilers. With a number of modifications to the combustion system, carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrous oxide (NO{sub x}) could be reduced to acceptable levels: CO < 30 ppm and NO{sub x} < 140 ppm. Particulate emissions which were initially very high (Bacharach 4-5) were reduced (Bach. 2-3) by system changes but are still higher than from light fuel oil (Bach. <1). The modifications to the combustion system were: acid resistant progressive cavity pump, higher oil preheat temperature and higher oil pressure than for light fuel oils, refractory section between burner and boiler warmed up to at least 800 deg C. In addition, it was necessary to store pyrolysis oil samples under inert conditions to prevent oxidation and to rinse nozzles with alcohol after shutdown to prevent coking. The complexity and cost of these system modifications are considered to be too great for current grades of flash pyrolysis oil to be sold as a light fuel oil replacement. Improvements to fuel quality will be necessary. The main improvements are lowering of viscosity and improving of stability

The rapid commercialization of biomass gasification and pyrolysis technologies will raise questions concerning the environmental impacts of these systems and the associated costs for appropriate control technologies. This study concentrates on characterizing the effluent emissions and control technologies for a dual fluid-bed pyrolysis unit run by Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona. The ASU system produces a raw product gas that is passed through a catalytic liquefaction system to produce a fuel comparable to No. 2 fuel oil. Argonne National Laboratory is conducting a program that will survey several biomass systems to standardize the sampling techniques, prioritize standard analyses and develop a data base so that environmental issues later may be addressed before they limit or impede the commercialization of biomass gasification and pyrolysis technologies. Emissions will be related to both the current and anticipated emissions standards to generate material balances and set design parameters for effluent treatment systems. This will permit an estimate to be made of the capital and operating costs associated with these technologies.

Inorganic waste especially plastics still become a major problem in many places. Low biodegradability of this materials causes the effort in recycling become very difficult. Most of the municipal solid waste (MSW) recycling facilities in developing country only use composting method to recover the organic fraction of the waste, while the inorganic fraction is still untreated. By pyrolysis, plastic waste can be treated to produce liquid fuels, flammable gas and chars. Reduction in volume and utilization of the liquid and gas as fuel are the major benefits of the process. By heat integration actually this process can become a self-sufficient system in terms of energy demand. However, the drawback of this process is usually due to the diverse type of plastic in the MSW creating low grade of liquid fuel and harmful gases. In this study, the mixture of plastics i.e. polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is treated using pyrolysis with catalyst in several operating temperature. PET is problematic to be treated using pyrolysis due to wax-like byproduct in liquid which may cause pipe clogging. The catalyst is the mixture of natural zeolite and bentonite which is able to handle PP and PET mixture feed to produce high grade liquid fuels in terms of calorific value and other fuel properties.

This study investigates carbon nanotube (CNT) production from coal pyrolysis wherein the output gases are used in a chemical vapor deposition reactor. The carbon products are similar to those using commercial coal gas as feedstock, but coal is a relatively cheaper feedstock compared to high purity source gases. A Gibbs minimization model has been developed to predict the volume percentages of product gases from coal pyrolysis. Methane and carbon monoxide were the largest carbon components of the product stream and thus formed the primary source for CNT synthesis. Both the model and the observations showed that increasing the furnace temperature led to a decrease in the absolute quantities of "useful" product gases, with the optimal temperature between 400 and 500 °C. Based on the experimental data, a kinetic rate law for CNT from coal pyrolysis was derived as d[CNT]/dt = K([CO][CH4])(1/2), where K is a function of several equilibrium constants representing various reactions in the CNT formation process.

Full Text Available This paper presents a low cost method for the purification of oils obtained from the pyrolysis of used tires. Oxidative desulfurization is a promising route for purification of tire pyrolysis oils as hydro-desulfurization may not be affordable for small scale industries. Different additives and acids have been employed for the enhancement of properties of pyrolytic oils. The experimental conditions were kept identical throughout, i.e. atmospheric pressure and 50°C temperature for comparison of performance of various additives. The use of hydrogen peroxide-acetic acid mixture (10 wt.% was found more economical and effective in desulfurization and improvement of fuel properties of sample oils. The contribution of sulfuric acid in desulfurization and decreasing viscosity was also satisfactory but due to high price of concentrated sulfuric acid its use may not be economical. Calcium oxide and Fuller’s earth was not found to be effective in desulfurization. Results indicate that oxidative desulfurization could render tire pyrolysis oils suitable for blending as heating fuel.

Olive bagasse (Olea europea L.) was pyrolysed in a fixed-bed reactor. The effects of pyrolysis temperature, heating rate, particle size and sweep gas flow rates on the yields of the products were investigated. Pyrolysis runs were performed using pyrolysis temperatures between 350 and 550 degrees C with heating rates of 10 and 50 degrees C min(-1). The particle size and sweep gas flow rate varied in the ranges 0.224-1.8mm and 50-200 cm3 min(-1), respectively. The bio-oil obtained at 500 degrees C was analysed and at this temperature the liquid product yield was the maximum. The various characteristics of bio-oil obtained under these conditions were identified on the basis of standard test methods. The empirical formula of the bio-oil with heating value of 31.8 MJ kg(-1) was established as CH(1.65)O(0.25)N(0.03). The chemical characterization showed that the bio-oil obtained from olive bagasse may be potentially valuable as a fuel and chemical feedstock.

Olive bagasse (Olea europea L.) was pyrolysed in a fixed-bed reactor. The effects of pyrolysis temperature, heating rate, particle size and sweep gas flow rates on the yields of the products were investigated. Pyrolysis runs were performed using pyrolysis temperatures between 350 and 550 {sup o}C with heating rates of 10 and 50 {sup o}C min{sup -} {sup 1}. The particle size and sweep gas flow rate varied in the ranges 0.224-1.8 mm and 50-200 cm{sup 3} min {sup -1}, respectively. The bio-oil obtained at 500 {sup o}C was analysed and at this temperature the liquid product yield was the maximum. The various characteristics of bio-oil obtained under these conditions were identified on the basis of standard test methods. The empirical formula of the bio-oil with heating value of 31.8 MJ kg{sup -1} was established as CH{sub 1.65}O{sub 0.25}N{sub 0.03}. The chemical characterization showed that the bio-oil obtained from olive bagasse may be potentially valuable as a fuel and chemical feedstock. (author)

Full Text Available This work deals with the simulation of an olive pits fed rotary kiln pyrolysis plant installed in Southern Italy. The pyrolysis process was simulated by commercial software CHEMCAD. The main component of the plant, the pyrolyzer, was modelled by a Plug Flow Reactor in accordance to the kinetic laws. Products distribution and the temperature profile was calculated along reactor's axis. Simulation results have been found to fit well the experimental data of pyrolysis. Moreover, sensitivity analyses were executed to investigate the effect of biomass moisture on the pyrolysis process.

In a continuous process for recovery of liquid hydrocarbons from a solid carbonaceous material by pyrolysis of the carbonaceous material in the presence of a particulate source of heat, particulate contamination of the liquid hydrocarbons is minimized. This is accomplished by removing fines from the solid carbonaceous material feed stream before pyrolysis, removing fines from the particulate source of heat before combining it with the carbonaceous material to effect pyrolysis of the carbonaceous material, and providing a coarse fraction of reduced fines content of the carbon containing solid residue resulting from the pyrolysis of the carbonaceous material before oxidizing carbon in the carbon containing solid residue to form the particulate source of heat.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Development of a microgravity and hypogravity compatible Electron Cyclotron Resonance (ECR) Plasma Methane Pyrolysis Reactor is proposed to recover hydrogen which is...

Methods for deoxygenating a biomass-derived pyrolysis oil are provided. A method for deoxygenating a biomass-derived pyrolysis oil comprising the steps of combining a biomass-derived pyrolysis oil stream with a heated low-oxygen-pyoil diluent recycle stream to form a heated diluted pyoil feed stream is provided. The heated diluted pyoil feed stream has a feed temperature of about 150.degree. C. or greater. The heated diluted pyoil feed stream is contacted with a first deoxygenating catalyst in the presence of hydrogen at first hydroprocessing conditions effective to form a low-oxygen biomass-derived pyrolysis oil effluent.

Analyses the most important economic parameters of the main pyrolysis processes. Considers the markets available for semi-coke and tars. Concludes that no single technology or process has clear advantages over the others because all depends on the type of coal being used and the purpose for which the end product is to be used. Refers to studies carried out in Canada and the USA on the same subject and reports their findings. Concludes optimistically that coal pyrolysis shows promise of being economically viable in the future because although initially, costs reflect the high financial outlay necessary to begin operations, after a certain period, these costs fall and the end product can be sold at a lower price. A further point in favour of pyrolysis is that coal prices are likely to rise more slowly than oil prices. 5 refs., 8 tabs.

Under the sponsorship of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Sandia National Laboratories is currently developing test validated methods to predict the pressure capacity, at elevated temperatures, of light water reactor (LWR) nuclear containment vessels subject to loads well beyond their design basis - the so-called severe accident. Scale model tests of containments with the major penetrations represented have been carried to functional failure by internal pressurization. Also, combined pressure and elevated temperature tests of typical compression seals and gaskets, a full size personnel airlock, and of typical electrical penetration assemblies (EPAs), have been conducted in order to better understand the leakage behavior of containment penetrations. Because inflatable seals are also a part of the pressure boundary of some containments, it is important to understand their leakage behavior as well. This paper discusses the results of tests that were performed to better define the leakage behavior of inflatable seals when subjected to loads well beyond their design basis

Disclosed is an apparatus for sealing the annulus defined between a substantially cylindrical rotatable first riser assembly and plug combination disposed in a substantially cylindrical second riser assembly and plug combination of a nuclear reactor system. The apparatus comprises a flexible member disposed between the first and second riser components and attached to a metal member which is attached to an actuating mechanism. When the actuating mechanism is not actuated, the flexible member does not contact the riser components thus allowing the free rotation of the riser components. When desired, the actuating mechanism causes the flexible member to contact the first and second riser components in a manner to block the annulus defined between the riser components, thereby sealing the annulus between the riser components

A significant portion of the commercial spent nuclear fuel in dry storage in the US will be stored in multiassembly sealed canisters before the DOE begins accepting fuel from utilities in 1998. This paper reports that it is desirable from economic and ALARA perspectives to transfer these canisters directly from the plant to the MRS. To this end, it is necessary that the multiassembly sealed canisters, which have been licensed for storage under 10CFR72, be qualified for shipment within a suitable shipping cask under the rules of 10CFR71. Preliminary work performed to date indicates that it is feasible to license a current canister design for transportation, and work is proceeding on obtaining NRC approval

HSST intermediate test vessel V-7 was repaired after being tested hydrostatically to leakage and was retested pneumatically as vessel V-7A. Except for the method of applying the load, the conditions in both tests were nearly identical. In each case, a sharp outside surface flaw 547 mm long (18 in.) by about 135 mm deep (5.3 in.) was prepared in the 152-mm-thick (6-in.) test cylinder of A533, grade B, class 1 steel. The inside surface of vessel V-7A was sealed in the region of the flaw by a thin metal patch so that pressure could be sustained after rupture. Vessel V-7A failed by rupture of the flaw ligament without burst, as expected. Rupture occurred at 144.3 MPa (20.92 ksi), after which pressure was sustained for 30 min without any indication of instability. The rupture pressure of vessel V-7A was about 2 percent less than that of vessel V-7.

HSST intermediate test vessel V-7 was repaired after being tested hydrostatically to leakage and was retested pneumatically as vessel V-7A. Except for the method of applying the load, the conditions in both tests were nearly identical. In each case, a sharp outside surface flaw 547 mm long (18 in.) by about 135 mm deep (5.3 in.) was prepared in the 152-mm-thick (6-in.) test cylinder of A533, grade B, class 1 steel. The inside surface of vessel V-7A was sealed in the region of the flaw by a thin metal patch so that pressure could be sustained after rupture. Vessel V-7A failed by rupture of the flaw ligament without burst, as expected. Rupture occurred at 144.3 MPa (20.92 ksi), after which pressure was sustained for 30 min without any indication of instability. The rupture pressure of vessel V-7A was about 2 percent less than that of vessel V-7

An electro-hydraulic forming tool for forming a sheet metal blank in a one-sided die has first and second rigid rings that engage opposite sides of a sheet metal blank. The rigid rings are contained within slots on a die portion and a hydraulic force applicator portion of the forming tool. The seals are either resiliently biased by an elastomeric member or inherently resiliently biased into contact with the blank.

The unimolecular and bimolecular decomposition reactions in processes of vanillin pyrolysis were theoretically investigated by employing density functional theory (DFT) method at M06-2X/6-31 G+(d,p) level. The result shows that the homolytic cleavage of O-CH3 bond could be the dominant initial step in the pyrolysis of vanillin. The hydrogen abstractions from functional groups of vanillin by the formed radicals play important roles in the formation of main products. Both formyl, hydroxyl and methoxyl group contribute to the formation of CO. Benzene is formed from the hydrogen addition reaction between hydrogen radical and phenol at high temperature.

Various types of shroud, diaphragm, and end seals preventing idle leak of working steam are installed in the flow paths of steam turbine cylinders for improving their efficiency. Widely known labyrinth seals are most extensively used in the Russian turbine construction industry. The category of labyrinth seals also includes seals with honeycomb inserts. The developers of seals with honeycomb inserts state that the use of such seals makes it possible to achieve certain gain due to smaller leaks of working fluid and more reliable operation of the system under the conditions in which the rotor rotating parts may rub against the stator elements. However, a positive effect can only be achieved if the optimal design parameters of the honeycomb structure are fulfilled with due regard to the specific features of its manufacturing technology and provided that this structure is applied in a goal-seeking manner in the seals of steam and gas turbines and compressors without degrading their vibration stability. Calculated and preliminary assessments made by experts testify that the replacement of conventional labyrinth seals by seals with honeycomb inserts alone, due to which the radial gaps in the shroud seal can be decreased from 1.5 to 0.5 mm, allows the turbine cylinder efficiency to be increased at the initial stage by approximately 1% with the corresponding gain in the turbine set power output. The use of rectangular-cellular seals may result, according to estimates made by their developers, in a further improvement of turbine efficiency by 0.5-1.0%. The labor input required to fabricate such seals is six to eight times smaller than that to fabricate labyrinth seals with honeycomb inserts. Recent years have seen the turbine construction companies of the United States and Germany advertising the use of abradable (sealing) coatings (borrowed from the gas turbine construction technology) in the turbine designs instead of labyrinth seals. The most efficient performance of

The utilization of biomass resources as a renewable energy resource is of great importance in responding to concerns over the protection of the environment and the security of energy supply. This PhD research focuses on the investigation of the conversion of negative value biomass residues into value-added fuels through flash pyrolysis. Pyrolysis Process Study. A pilot plant bubbling fluidized bed pyrolyzer has been set up and extensively used to thermally crack various low or negative value agricultural, food and biofuel processing residues to investigate the yields and quality of the liquid [bio-oil] and solid (bio-char] products. Another novel aspect of this study is the establishment of an energy balance from which the thermal self-sustainability of the pyrolysis process can be assessed. Residues such as grape skins and mixture of grape skins and seeds, dried distiller's grains from bio-ethanol plants, sugarcane field residues (internal bagasse, external and whole plant) have been tested. The pyrolysis of each residue has been carried out at temperatures ranging from 300 to 600°C and at different vapor residence times, to determine its pyrolysis behavior including yields and the overall energy balance. The thermal sustainability of the pyrolysis process has been estimated by considering the energy contribution of the product gases and liquid bio-oll in relation to the pyrolysis heat requirements. The optimum pyrolysis conditions have been identified in terms of maximizing the liquid blo-oil yield, energy density and content of the product blo-oil, after ensuring a self-sustainable process by utilizing the product gases and part of char or bio-oil as heat sources. Adownflow pyrolyzer has also been set up. Preliminary tests have been conducted using much shorter residence times. Bio-oil Recovery. Bio-oil recovery from the pyrolysis unit includes condensation followed by demisting. A blo-oil cyclonic condensing system is designed A nearly tangential entry forces

The durability of the magnetic fluid seal clearly decreases when sealing another liquid because of the interface instability caused by the applied magnetic field and the velocity difference of the two liquids. With an intention to establish a stable interface during sealing liquid, a new magnetic fluid seal was developed in this paper. The parameters of the structure were optimized by a simulation apparatus. And the magnetic fluid seal designed based on the optimum parameters shows good performance and long life for sealing lubricating oil

We report results of experiments designed to characterize the carbon isotope composition of intermediate organic compounds produced as a result of mineral surface catalyzed reactions. The impetus for this work stems from recently reported detection of methane in the Martian atmosphere coupled with evidence showing extensive water-rock interaction during Martian history. Abiotic formation by Fischer-Tropsch-type (FTT) synthesis during serpentinization reactions may be one possible process responsible for methane generation on Mars, and measurement of carbon and hydrogen isotopes of intermediary organic compounds can help constrain the origin of this methane. Of particular interest within the context of this work is the isotopic composition of organic intermediaries produced on the surfaces of mineral catalysts (i.e. magnetite) during hydrothermal experiments, and the ability to make meaningful and reproducible isotope measurements. Our isotope measurements utilize a unique analytical technique combining Pyrolysis-Gas Chromatograph-Mass Spectrometry-Combustion-Isotope Ratio Mass Specrometry (Py-GC-MS-C-IRMS). Others have conducted similar pyrolysis-IRMS experiments on low molecular weight organic acids (Dias, et al, Organic Geochemistry, 33 [2002]). Our technique differs in that it carries a split of the pyrolyzed GC-separated product to a Thermo DSQ-II quadrupole mass spectrometer as a means of making qualitative and semi-quantitative compositional measurements of the organic compounds. A sample of carboxylic acid (mixture of C1 through C6) was pyrolyzed at 100 XC and passed through the GC-MS-C-IRMS (combusted at 940 XC). In order to test the reliability of our technique we compared the _13C composition of different molecular weight organic acids (from C1 through C6) extracted individually by the traditional sealed-tube cupric oxide combustion (940 XC) method with the _13C produced by our pyrolysis technique. Our data indicate that an average 4.3. +/-0.5. (V

As a result of the popularity of the Agencies report 'Neutron Irradiation Embrittlement of Reactor Pressure Vessel Steels' of 1975, it was decided that another report on this broad subject would be of use. In this report, background and contemporary views on specially identified areas of the subject are considered as self-contained chapters, written by experts. Chapter 3 offers a detailed treatment of the selection criteria and properties of reactor pressure vessel materials. The main attention is directed towards steel and ingot making and the subsequent material processing

A pressure vessel is provided for observing corrosive fluids at high temperatures and pressures. A transparent Teflon bag contains the corrosive fluid and provides an inert barrier. The Teflon bag is placed within a sapphire tube, which forms a pressure boundary. The tube is received within a pipe including a viewing window. The combination of the Teflon bag, sapphire tube and pipe provides a strong and inert pressure vessel. In an alternative embodiment, tie rods connect together compression fittings at opposite ends of the sapphire tube.

From the non contaminated area, the filter is enclosed in a leak tight bag which is affixed to the outside periphery of a supporting frame. The filter is placed in the bottom of the bag which is then welded in two places, a cut is then made between the two welds to achieve a sealed membrane separating the two halves of the vessel. An additional supporting frame is then placed on the frame. The new filter is secured in place and the sealed membrane is withdrawn from the contaminated part of the vessel [fr

This study experimentally investigates an actively controlled mechanical seal for aerospace applications. The seal of interest is a gas seal, which is considerably more compact than previous actively controlled mechanical seals that were developed for industrial use. In a mechanical seal, the radial convergence of the seal interface has a primary effect on the film thickness. Active control of the film thickness is established by controlling the radial convergence of the seal interface with a piezoelectric actuator. An actively controlled mechanical seal was initially designed and evaluated using a mathematical model. Based on these results, a seal was fabricated and tested under laboratory conditions. The seal was tested with both helium and air, at rotational speeds up to 3770 rad/sec, and at sealed pressures as high as 1.48 x 10(exp 6) Pa. The seal was operated with both manual control and with a closed-loop control system that used either the leakage rate or face temperature as the feedback. The output of the controller was the voltage applied to the piezoelectric actuator. The seal operated successfully for both short term tests (less than one hour) and for longer term tests (four hours) with a closed-loop control system. The leakage rates were typically 5-15 slm (standard liters per minute), and the face temperatures were generally maintained below 100C. When leakage rate was used as the feedback signal, the setpoint leakage rate was typically maintained within 1 slm. However, larger deviations occurred during sudden changes in sealed pressure. When face temperature was used as the feedback signal, the setpoint face temperature was generally maintained within 3 C, with larger deviations occurring when the sealed pressure changes suddenly. the experimental results were compared to the predictions from the mathematical model. The model was successful in predicting the trends in leakage rate that occurred as the balance ratio and sealed pressure changed

Gas dynamic seals with rectangular spiral grooves are studied theoretically taking the effects of sidewalls of the grooves and the effects of gas compressibility into account, and slip boundary conditions are employed. The results are compared with the existing experimental data and the validity of the theory is confirmed over a wide pressure range except for the extremely low pressures. Suggestions are made regarding the choice of the geometrical dimensions, i.e., aspect ratio, helix angle, clearance parameter and groove width ratio. (author)

A reevaluation of current scheduled replacement intervals of polymeric seals in plant equipment can achieve significant benefits. Information is provided which has the potential for increasing replacement intervals based on better information on how seals have performed through unique nuclear industry tests to qualify equipment, improved elastomers and increased knowledge of the failure mechanisms and related performance. The research was performed by reviewing applications of elastomeric seals in nuclear plants and practice associated with defining seal replacement intervals in the nuclear power and other industries. Performance indicators and how they predict degradation of seals were evaluated. Guidelines and a flow chart for reevaluating seal replacement intervals are provided. 29 refs., 38 figs., 8 tabs

Physicochemical properties of the charcoal arising from pyrolysis of sugarcane bagasse at 600{sup o}C and 800{sup o}C were determined to evaluate potentialities for specific end uses. The charcoals were found fairly adequate as solid bio-fuels. Their quality was comparable to charcoals obtained from some other agro-industrial by-products, reportedly proposed as substitutes of wood-based ones. Surface properties of the charcoal generated at the higher temperature indicated that it is reasonably suited for potential use as low-cost rough adsorbent, soil amender, and/or for further upgrading to activated carbon. Moreover, kinetic measurements for pyrolysis of the sugarcane bagasse individually and mixed with an Argentinean subbituminous coal in equal proportions were conducted by thermogravimetry for the range 25 -900{sup o}C. Data modeling accounting for variations in the activation energy with process evolution provided a proper description of pyrolysis and co-pyrolysis over the entire temperature range.

Reactors for flash pyrolysis of biomass are designed to maximize the yield of bio-oil, at the expense of the by-products gas and char. To understand which chemical and physical factors influence the yield to bio-oil, the flash pyrolysis of a cylindrical wood particle with a maximum diameter of 1000

Pyrolysis is a thermochemical process to convert ligno-cellulosic materials into bio-char and pyrolysis oil. This oil can be further upgraded or refined for electricity, transportation fuels and chemicals production. At the time of writing, several demonstration factories are considered worldwide

A microjet reactor coupled to a VUV photoionization time-of-flight mass spectrometer has been used to obtain species measurements during high temperature pyrolysis and oxidation of a wide range of hydrocarbon compounds ranging from allene and acetylene to cyclohexane, benzene and toluene. Initial work focused on calibration of the technique, optimization of ion collection and detection and characterization of limitations. Using the optimized technique with 118 nm photoionization, intermediate species profiles were obtained for analysis of the hydrocarbon pyrolysis and oxidation mechanisms. The soft'' ionization, yielding predominantly molecular ions, allowed the study of reaction pathways in these high temperature systems where both sampling and detection challenges are severe. Work has focused on the pyrolysis and oxidative pyrolysis of aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbon mixtures representative of coal pyrolysis and hydropyrolysis products. The detailed mass spectra obtained during pyrolysis and oxidation of hydrocarbon mixtures is especially important because of the complex nature of the product mixture even at short residence times and low primary reactant conversions. The combustion community has advanced detailed modeling of pyrolysis and oxidation to the C4 hydrocarbon level but in general above that size uncertainties in rate constant and thermodynamic data do not allow us to a priori predict products from mixed hydrocarbon pyrolyses using a detailed chemistry model. For pyrolysis of mixtures of coal-derived liquid fractions with a large range of compound structures and molecular weights in the hundreds of amu the modeling challenge is severe. Lumped models are possible from stable product data.

Full Text Available We have been working on pyrolysis of some organic raw materials including different rank coals, oil shale, wood waste, animal bone, cedar shell, polypropylene waste, milk casein and characterization of obtained hard residue, tar and pyrolytic water and gas after pyrolysis. The technical characteristics of these organic raw materials have been determined and the thermal stability characteristics such as thermal stability indices (T5% and T25% determined by using thermogravimetric analysis. The pyrolysis experiments were performed at different heating temperatures and the yields of hard residue, tar, pyrolysis water and gaseous products were determined and discussed. The main technical characteristics of hard residue of organic raw materials after pyrolysis have been determined and the adsorption ability of pyrolysis hard residue and its activated carbon of organic raw materials also determined. The pyrolysis tars of organic raw materials were distilled in air condition and determined the yields of obtained light, middle and heavy fractions and bitumen like residue with different boiling temperature. This is the first time to investigate the curing ability of pyrolysis tars of organic raw materials for epoxy resin and the results of these experiments showed that only tar of milk casein has the highest (95.0%, tar of animal bone has certain (18.70% and tars of all other organic raw materials have no curing ability for epoxy resin.

UOP LLC, a Honeywell Company, assembled a comprehensive team for a two-year project to demonstrate innovative methods for the stabilization of pyrolysis oil in accordance with DOE Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) DE-PS36-08GO98018, Biomass Fast Pyrolysis Oil (Bio-oil) Stabilization. In collaboration with NREL, PNNL, the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Pall Fuels and Chemicals, and Ensyn Corporation, UOP developed solutions to the key technical challenges outlined in the FOA. The UOP team proposed a multi-track technical approach for pyrolysis oil stabilization. Conceptually, methods for pyrolysis oil stabilization can be employed during one or both of two stages: (1) during the pyrolysis process (In Process); or (2) after condensation of the resulting vapor (Post-Process). Stabilization methods fall into two distinct classes: those that modify the chemical composition of the pyrolysis oil, making it less reactive; and those that remove destabilizing components from the pyrolysis oil. During the project, the team investigated methods from both classes that were suitable for application in each stage of the pyrolysis process. The post processing stabilization effort performed at PNNL is described in this report. The effort reported here was performed under a CRADA between PNNL and UOP, which was effective on March 13, 2009, for 2 years and was subsequently modified March 8, 2011, to extend the term to December 31, 2011.

Results of experimental studies on pyrolysis of brown coals of the Lelchitsy deposit, which were conducted on Laboratory setups in stationary and moving layers for producing high-caloric energy carriers, are presented. The yield of the pyrolysis products is determined; the chemical composition of solid, liquid, and gaseous products of thermochemical treatment is considered.

these biomasses. The fast pyrolysis of macroalgae showed a promising result with a bio-oil yield of 65 wt% dry ash free basis (daf) and 76 % energy recovery in the bio-oil while the lignin fast pyrolysis provides a bio-oil yield of 47 wt% daf and energy recovery in bio-oil of 45 %. The physiochemical properties...

Fast pyrolysis is a process that can convert woody biomass to a crude bio-oil (pyrolysis oil). However, some of these compounds : contribute to bio-oil shelf life instability and difficulty in refining. Catalytic hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) of the bio-o...

High pressure thermal treatment (HPTT) is a new process developed by BTG and University of Twente with the potential to economically reduce the oxygen and water content of oil obtained by fast pyrolysis (pyrolysis oil), properties that currently complicate its co-processing in standard refineries.

Highlights: • Glycerol pyrolysis can produce about 44–48%v hydrogen at 750–800 °C. • A simplified 452 reactions kinetic model of glycerol pyrolysis has been developed. • The model has good agreement with experimental data. • Non condensable gas yields can reach 70%. - Abstract: Pyrolysis of glycerol, a by-product of the biodiesel industry, is an important potential source of hydrogen. The obtained high calorific value gas can be used either as a fuel for combined heat and power (CHP) generation or as a transportation fuel (for example hydrogen to be used in fuel cells). Optimal process conditions can improve glycerol pyrolysis by increasing gas yield and hydrogen concentration. A detailed kinetic mechanism of glycerol pyrolysis, which involves 137 species and more than 4500 reactions, was drastically simplified and reduced to a new skeletal kinetic scheme of 44 species, involved in 452 reactions. An experimental campaign with a batch pyrolysis reactor was properly designed to further validate the original and the skeletal mechanisms. The comparisons between model predictions and experimental data strongly suggest the presence of a catalytic process promoting steam reforming of methane. High pyrolysis temperatures (750–800 °C) improve process performances and non-condensable gas yields of 70%w can be achieved. Hydrogen mole fraction in pyrolysis gas is about 44–48%v. The skeletal mechanism developed can be easily used in Computational Fluid Dynamic software, reducing the simulation time.

Pyrolysis oil, a complex mixture of several organic compounds, produced during flash pyrolysis of organic lignocellulosic material was evaluated for its suitability as alternative carbon source for fungal growth and fermentation processes. Therefore several fungi from all phyla were screened for their tolerance toward pyrolysis oil. Additionally Aspergillus oryzae and Rhizopus delemar , both established organic acid producers, were chosen as model organisms to investigate the suitability of pyrolysis oil as carbon source in fungal production processes. It was observed that A. oryzae tolerates pyrolysis oil concentrations between 1 and 2% depending on growth phase or stationary production phase, respectively. To investigate possible reasons for the low tolerance level, eleven substances from pyrolysis oil including aldehydes, organic acids, small organic compounds and phenolic substances were selected and maximum concentrations still allowing growth and organic acid production were determined. Furthermore, effects of substances to malic acid production were analyzed and compounds were categorized regarding their properties in three groups of toxicity. To validate the results, further tests were also performed with R. delemar . For the first time it could be shown that small amounts of phenolic substances are beneficial for organic acid production and A. oryzae might be able to degrade isoeugenol. Regarding pyrolysis oil toxicity, 2-cyclopenten-1-on was identified as the most toxic compound for filamentous fungi; a substance never described for anti-fungal or any other toxic properties before and possibly responsible for the low fungal tolerance levels toward pyrolysis oil.

The rapid increase in energy consumption, limited fossil fuel resource, and environmental concerns have stimulated the research need for biomass-derived fuels and chemicals. Pyrolysis is a thermal degradation process of biomass in the absence of oxygen. The liquid product from pyrolysis is known as ...

A process for the conversion of biomass derived pyrolysis oil to liquid fuel components is presented. The process includes the production of diesel, aviation, and naphtha boiling point range fuels or fuel blending components by two-stage deoxygenation of the pyrolysis oil and separation of the products.

Current activities in seals for space propulsion turbomachinery that NASA sponsors are surveyed. The overall objective is to provide the designer and researcher with the concepts and data to control seal dynamics and leakage. Included in the program are low-leakage seals, such as the brush seal, the 'ceramic rope' seal, low-leakage seals for liquid oxygen turbopumps, face seals for two phase flow, and swirl brakes for stability. Two major efforts are summarized: a seal dynamics in rotating machinery, and an effort in seal code development.

This invention concerns the thermal insulation of a pre-stressed concrete vessel for a pressurised water nuclear reactor, this vessel being fitted internally with a leak-proof metal lining. Two rings are placed at the lower and upper parts of the vessel respectively. The upper ring is closed with a cover. These rings differ in diameter, are fitted with a metal insulating and mark the limits of a chamber between the vaporisable fluid and the internal wall of the vessel. This chamber is filled with a fluid in the liquid phase up to the liquid/vapor interface level of the fluid and with a gas above that level, the covering of the rings forming a cold fluid liquid seal. Each ring is supported by the vessel. Leak-proof components take up the radial expansion of the rings [fr

In the paper the fundamental steels using in the construction of pressure vessel water reactor are discussed. The properties of these steels as well as the influence of neutron irradiation on its degradation in the time of exploitation are also done. (authors)

A quick-acting stud tensioner, for facilitating the loosening or tightening of a stud nut on a reactor vessel stud, has gripper jaws which when the tensioner is lowered into engagement with the upper end of the stud are moved inwards to grip the upper end and which when the tensioner is lifted move outward to release the upper end. (author)

Purpose: To improve the strength and reliability by moderating thermal stresses produced to the furnace walls of a reactor vessel by the thermal shocks upon reactor shutdown and tripping and reducing the generation of developing thermal ratchet strains produced upon repeating thermal shocks. Constitution: Upon occurrence of reactor shutdown or tripping, the temperature is detected and the pressure of the cover gas is controlled such that the axial temperature slope is decreased to displace the liquid surface in an annular vessel. Then, for attaining the stress reducing temperature, control is so conducted that the temperature of the lower portion is not higher than the upper portion in the axial temperature distribution of the reactor vessel. By controlling the pressure of the cover gas in the annular vessel in this way, the liquid level can be raised to a cover gas portion remaining at a high temperature state. Further, the temperature of the furnace wall can always be decreased to a temperature of the high temperature plenum thereby enabling to moderate the thermal stresses. (Yoshihara, H.)

This volume contains papers relating to the structural integrity assessment of pressure vessels and piping, with special emphasis on nuclear industry applications. The papers were prepared for technical sessions developed under the sponsorship of the ASME Pressure Vessels and Piping Division Committees for Codes and Standards, Computer Technology, Design and Analysis, and Materials Fabrication. They were presented at the 1991 Pressure Vessels and Piping Division Conference in San Diego, California, June 23-27. The primary objective of the sponsoring organization is to provide a forum for the dissemination and discussion of information on development and application of technology for the structural integrity assessment of pressure vessels and piping. This publication includes contributions from authors from Australia, France, Japan, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The papers here are organized in six sections, each with a particular emphasis as indicated in the following section titles: Fracture Technology Status and Application Experience; Crack Initiation, Propagation and Arrest; Ductile Tearing; Constraint, Stress State, and Local-Brittle-Zones Effects; Computational Techniques for Fracture and Corrosion Fatigue; and Codes and Standards for Fatigue, Fracture and Erosion/Corrosion

The report presents the requirements on management of disused sealed sources in Lithuania; disused sealed source disposal facilities; performed safety analysis and planed repository safety improvements. The requirements on pre-disposal management of Disused Sealed Sources (DSS) are presented. The requirements on disposal of short lived VLLW and LILW (A, B and C classes) radioactive waste approved in 2002-2003. Generic Waste Acceptance Criteria for Near Surface Disposal, P-2003-01 approved in 2003. Requirements on disposal of Low and intermediate level long lived waste do not exist (D and E classes). Requirements for the disposal of disused sealed sources (F class) do not exist. Disposal method for the F class - Near Surface or Deep geological repository, depending on the waste acceptance criteria. Only one repository for institutional radioactive waste exist in Lithuania - Maisiagala repository. It is near surface RADON type disposal facility, built in 1963 and closed in 1988. It was constructed of the monolithic reinforced concrete with the dimensions 5 m x 15 m x 3 m, the thickness of the sidewalls is about 0.25 m and the thickness of the bottom is about 0.2 m. The overall volume is about 200 m 3 . At time of closure only three fifths of the volume had been filled. The empty two fifths of the vault were filled with concrete, then with sand, then with the concrete (0.01 m), hot bitumen and the 0.05 m asphalt layers. Monolithic concrete that was covered with bitumen and 0.05 m thick layer of asphalt closed the vault. Sand layer the thickness of which was not less than 1.2 m formed the cap. Disused radioactive sources embedded in a biological shielding were buried together with their shielding, the sources without the shielding were buried in two stainless steel containers. The total activity of buried radioactive nuclides is 3.42.10 -15 Bq (calculated according the documentation). There are some uncertainties about the inventory: from 1963 to 1973. After the

A reusable tamper-indicating mechanical security seal for use in safeguarding nuclear material has been developed. The high-security seal displays an unpredictable, randomly selected, five-digit code each time it is used. This five digit code serves the same purpose that the serial number does for conventional non-reusable seals - a unique identifier for each use or application. The newly developed reusable seal is completely enclosed within a seamless, tamper-indicating, plastic jacket. The jacket is designed to reveal any attempts to penetrate, section or to chemically remove and replace with a counterfeit for surreptitious purposes

This seal which cannot be counterfeited, specially for sealing nuclear objects, e.g. fuel rods, not only makes any damage which has taken place obvious, but makes identification according to a key possible. For this purpose a minimum number of 'particles' or small bodies, which are identical but of different permeability, are fixed inside a short tube during 'loading' of the seal in a certain or an accidental sequence. The sequence of the spheres, which represents a key, can only be determined by special electromagnetic measuring equipment. On first opening the seal, this key sequence is irrevocably destroyed. (HP) [de

Changes in the operating environment at the Bruce-A Nuclear Generating Station created the need for an upgraded Primary Heat Transport Pump (PHTP) seal. In particular, the requirement for low pressure running during more frequent start-ups exposed a weakness of the CAN2 seal and reduced its reliability. The primary concern at Bruce-A was the rotation of the CAN2 No. 2 stators in their holders. The introduction of low pressure running exacerbated this problem, giving rapid wear of the stator back face, overheating, and thermocracking. In addition, the resulting increase in friction between the stator and its holder increased stationary-side hysteresis and thereby changed the seal characteristic to the point where interseal pressure oscillations became prevalent. The resultant increased hysteresis also led to hard rubbing of the seal faces during temperature transients. An upgraded seal was required for improved reliability to avoid forced outages and to reduce maintenance costs. This paper describes this upgraded 'replacement seal' and its performance history. In spite of the 'teething' problems detailed in this paper, there have been no forced outages due to the replacement seal, and in the words of a seal maintenance worker at Bruce-A, 'it allows me to go home and sleep at night instead of worrying about seal failures.' (author)

A vane assembly (10) having: an airfoil (12) and a shroud (14) held together without metallurgical bonding there between; a channel (22) disposed circumferentially about the airfoil (12), between the airfoil (12) and the shroud (14); and a seal (20) disposed in the channel (22), wherein during operation of a turbine engine having the vane assembly (10) the seal (20) has a sufficient ductility such that a force generated on the seal (20) resulting from relative movement of the airfoil (12) and the shroud (14) is sufficient to plastically deform the seal (20).

This patent describes a quick-sealing assembly and method for forming an adhesive seal on opposite sides of a mechanical seal for a flexible containment bag of the type used for working with radioactively contaminated objects. The assembly includes an elongated mechanical fastener having opposing engaging members affixed at a predetermined distance from each of the elongated edges, with an adhesive layer formed between the mechanical fastener and the elongated edge such that upon engagement of the mechanical fastener and adhesive layers to opposing containment fabric, a neat triple hermetic seal is formed

This patent describes a quick-sealing assembly and method for forming an adhesive seal on opposite sides of a mechanical seal for a flexible containment bag of the type used for working with radioactively contaminated objects. The assembly includes an elongated mechanical fastener having opposing engaging members affixed at a predetermined distance from each of the elongated edges, with an adhesive layer formed between the mechanical fastener and the elongated edge such that upon engagement of the mechanical fastener and adhesive layers to opposing containment fabric, a neat triple hermetic seal is formed

A quick-sealing assembly and method for forming an adhesive seal on opposite sides of a mechanical seal for a flexible containment bag of the type used for working with radioactively contaminated objects. The assembly includes an elongated mechanical fastener having opposing engaging members affixed at a predetermined distance from each of the elongated edges, with an adhesive layer formed between the mechanical fastener and the elongated edge such that upon engagement of the mechanical fastener and adhesive layers to opposing containment fabric, a neat triple hermetic seal is formed.

Vacuum clamping is extensively used in shell machining. In this paper a Bingham Sealing (BS) is presented and formulized based on Bingham plastic performance. The sealing capability of BS is evaluated in various cases. A new Bingham plastic is developed and the yield stress is measured. The performances of "O"ring sealing and BS with the developed Bingham plastic are compared to the static experiment. In this experiment the same vacuum is achieved and the distortion of the blade with BS is better than that with "O" ring sealing.

Vacuum clamping is extensively used in shell machining. In this paper a Bingham Sealing (BS) is presented and formulized based on Bingham plastic performance. The sealing capability of BS is evaluated in various cases. A new Bingham plastic is developed and the yield stress is measured. The performances of Or ing sealing and BS with the developed Bingham plastic are compared to the static experiment. In this experiment the same vacuum is achieved and the distortion of the blade with BS is better than that with 'O' ring sealing.

Full Text Available In this paper, seals found at the location of the Ras fortress (Tvrđava Ras have been published. Inscriptions on these seals show that they used to belong to persons which could be identified with certain military commanders who served under Alexios I Komnenos. The seals in question are: the seals of protonobelissimos Eustathios Kamytzes, Constantine Dalassenos Doukas, protoproedros and doux Constantine Kekaumenos and a certain person called Alexios. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 177021 i br. 177032

Thermochemical pyrolysis of solid biomass feedstocks, with subsequent condensation of the pyrolysis vapors, has been investigated in the U.S. and internationally as a means of producing a liquid fuel for power production from biomass. This process produces a fuel with significantly different physical and chemical properties from traditional petroleum-based fuel oils. In addition to storage and handling difficulties with pyrolysis oils, concern exists over the ability to use this fuel effectively in different combustors. The report endeavors to place the results and conclusions from Sandia's research into the context of international efforts to utilize pyrolysis oils. As a special supplement to this report, Dr. Steven Gust, of Finland's Neste Oy, has provided a brief assessment of pyrolysis oil combustion research efforts and commercialization prospects in Europe.

The study is aimed to evaluate the impact of impurities like food waste, paper, textile and especially soil on the pyrolysis of waste plastics. For this purpose, emissions, gas and liquid products from pyrolysis of waste plastics and impurities were studied, as well as the transfer of element N, Cl, S from the substrates to the pyrolysis products. It was found that the presence of food waste would reduce the heat value of pyrolysis oil to 27 MJ/kg and increase the moisture in the liquid products, therefore the food residue should be removed from waste plastics; and the soil, enhance the waste plastics' pyrolysis by improving the quality of gas and oil products. The presence of food residue, textile and paper leaded to higher gas emissions.

is available in the literature. Nonconventional biomass feedstock may also be applicable for fast pyrolysis processes. Among the forms of nonconventional biomasses: macroalgae, lignin (industrial residue) and sewage sludge may be attractive materials due to their low price, non-competitiveness with food crops......In the last twenty years, the fast pyrolysis process has been explored to produce bio-oil from biomass. Fast pyrolysis is a thermal conversion technology that is performed at a temperatures of 450 - 600 ºC, high biomass heating ratess (100 - 2000 K/s), a short gas residence time (less than 2 s......) with no presence of oxygen. Fast pyrolysis can convert a large fraction of the biomass to bio-oil, and smaller fractions of char and gas. The pyrolysis centrifuge reactor (PCR) has been developed at the CHEC center at DTU Department of Chemical Engineering. The reactor is a compact design that uses a low flow rate...

Design criteria are discussed for a hermetic seal capable of withstanding the 450 C operating temperature of a lithium-metal sulfide battery system. A mechanical seal consisting of two high strength alloy metal sleeves welded or brazed to a conductor assembly and pressed onto a ceramic is described. The conductor center passes through the ceramic but is not sealed to it. The seal is effected on the outside of the taper where the tubular part is pressed down over and makes contact.

Highlights: ► Structural analysis to validate the JT-60SA cryostat vessel body design. ► Design code ASME 2007 “Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code. Section VIII”. ► First buckling mode: load multiplier of 10.644, higher than the minimum factor 4.7. ► Elastic and elastic–plastic stress analysis meets ASME against plastic collapse. ► Bolted fasteners have been analyzed showing small gaps closed by strong welding. -- Abstract: The JT-60SA cryostat is a stainless steel vacuum vessel (14 m diameter, 16 m height) which encloses the Tokamak providing the vacuum environment (10{sup −3} Pa) necessary to limit the transmission of thermal loads to the components at cryogenic temperature. It must withstand both external atmospheric pressure during normal operation and internal overpressure in case of an accident. The paper summarizes the structural analyses performed in order to validate the JT-60SA cryostat vessel body design. It comprises several analyses: a buckling analysis to demonstrate stability under the external pressure; an elastic and an elastic–plastic stress analysis according to ASME VIII rules, to evaluate resistance to plastic collapse including localized stress concentrations; and, finally, a detailed analysis with bolted fasteners in order to evaluate the behavior of the flanges, assuring the integrity of the vacuum sealing welds of the cryostat vessel body.

A stress analysis of PDX vacuum vessel is described and the summary of results is presented. The vacuum vessel is treated as a toroidal shell of revolution subjected to an internal vacuum. The critical buckling pressure is calculated. The effects of the geometrical discontinuity at the juncture of toroidal shell head and cylindrical outside wall, and the concavity of the cylindrical wall are examined. An effect of the poloidal field coil supports and the vessel outside supports on the stress distribution in the vacuum vessel is determined. A method evaluating the influence of circular ports in the vessel wall on the stress level in the vessel is outlined

Full Text Available Three high temperature processes of the electronic waste processing: smelting/incineration, pyrolysis and gasification were shortly discussed. The most distinctive feature of electronic waste is complexity of components and their integration. This type of waste consists of polymeric materials and has high content of valuable metals that could be recovered. The purpose of thermal treatment of electronic waste is elimination of plastic components (especially epoxy resins while leaving non-volatile mineral and metallic phases in more or less original forms. Additionally, the gaseous product of the process after cleaning may be used for energy recovery or as syngas.

Three high temperature processes of the electronic waste processing: smelting/incineration, pyrolysis and gasification were shortly discussed. The most distinctive feature of electronic waste is complexity of components and their integration. This type of waste consists of polymeric materials and has high content of valuable metals that could be recovered. The purpose of thermal treatment of electronic waste is elimination of plastic components (especially epoxy resins) while leaving non-volatile mineral and metallic phases in more or less original forms. Additionally, the gaseous product of the process after cleaning may be used for energy recovery or as syngas.

A solid carbonaceous material is pyrolyzed in a descending flow pyrolysis reactor in the presence of a particulate source of heat to yield a particulate carbon containing solid residue. The particulate source of heat is obtained by educting with a gaseous source of oxygen the particulate carbon containing solid residue from a fluidized bed into a first combustion zone coupled to a second combustion zone. A source of oxygen is introduced into the second combustion zone to oxidize carbon monoxide formed in the first combustion zone to heat the solid residue to the temperature of the particulate source of heat.

The Wadden Sea is an important habitat for harbour seals and grey seals. They regularly haul-out on sandbanks and islands along the coast. Comparably little is known about the time seals spend at sea and how they use the remainder of the North Sea. Yet, human activity in offshore waters is

The Seal Rehabilitation and Research Centre (SRRC) in Pieterburen, The Netherlands, rehabilitates seals from the waters of the Wadden Sea, North Sea and Southwest Delta area. Incidental observations of albinism and melanism in common and grey seals are known from countries surrounding the North Sea.

Large numbers of dead seals with characteristic spiral lesions have been washing ashore around the North Atlantic over the past two decades. Interactions with ship propellers and shark predation have been suggested as the likely causal mechanisms. However, new evidence points towards a more likely candidate: grey seal predation. An adult male grey seal was observed and recorded catching, killing and eating five weaned grey seal pups over a period of one week on the Isle of May, Scotland. A further 9 carcasses found in the same area exhibited similar injuries. Post mortem analysis of lesions indicated the wound characteristics were similar to each other and in 12 of the 14 carcasses analysed, were indistinguishable from carcasses previously attributed to propeller interaction. We therefore propose that most of the seal carcasses displaying spiral lacerations in the UK are caused by grey seal predation. Cases in other locations should be re-evaluated using the scoring system presented here to identify whether grey seal predation is a major cause of mortality in phocid seals.

In a modular liquid-metal pool breeder reactor, a radiant vessel auxiliary cooling system is disclosed for removing the residual heat resulting from the shutdown of a reactor by a completely passive heat transfer system. A shell surrounds the reactor and containment vessel, separated from the containment vessel by an air passage. Natural circulation of air is provided by air vents at the lower and upper ends of the shell. Longitudinal, radial and inwardly extending fins extend from the shell into the air passage. The fins are heated by radiation from the containment vessel and convect the heat to the circulating air. Residual heat from the primary reactor vessel is transmitted from the reactor vessel through an inert gas plenum to a guard or containment vessel designed to contain any leaking coolant. The containment vessel is conventional and is surrounded by the shell.

.... Since entrapped matter can lead to open seals, defects, and seal anomalies, a method of measurement for seal area contamination is useful in quantifying effects of filler changes, line speeds, and product formulations...

Granular salt can be used to construct high performance permanent seals in boreholes which penetrate rock salt formations. These seals are described as seal systems comprised of the host rock, the seal material, and the seal rock interface. The performance of these seal systems is defined by the complex interactions between these seal system components through time. The interactions are largely driven by the creep of the host formation applying boundary stress on the seal forcing host rock permeability with time. The immediate permeability of these seals is dependent on the emplaced density. Laboratory test results suggest that careful emplacement techniques could results in immediate seal system permeability on the order of 10 -16 m 2 to 10 -18 m 2 (10 -4 darcy to 10 -6 ). The visco-plastic behavior of the host rock coupled with the granular salts ability to ''heal'' or consolidate make granular salt an ideal sealing material for boreholes whose permanent sealing is required

A five year laboratory study was conducted to investigate near surface properties of flexible pavements in relation to : how they are affected by bituminous surface treatments. Chip seals and scrub seals (a specialized type of chip seal) : were the f...

Data are presented on the acute toxicity (mortality only) of the thermal degradation products of polymers obtained by two methods of degradation. One system utilized a slowly increasing temperature (5 degrees C/min) and gradual degradation of the polymer with the rats being exposed to degradation products as they were evolved. In this system the more toxic polymers included wool, polypropylene, poly(vinyl chloride), and urethane foam. The second system utilized conditions of rapid combustion and exposure of rats to the total products of combustion for a period of 4 hr. In this system the more toxic materials included red oak, cotton, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS), and styrene-acrylonitrile. It is of interest to note that the natural product wool is among the least toxic under these rapid combustion conditions and among the most toxic under slow pyrolysis conditions. Other materials also vary in the comparative toxicity of their thermal degradation products, depending upon the conditions of degradation and animal exposure. The two experimental techniques presented here may well represent the two extreme conditions of rapid combustion versus slow pyrolysis. Intermediate types of fire situations might be expected to result in relative acute toxicities somewhere between these two extremes. This report deals with acute toxicity on the basis of mortality data only and does not include other parameters of toxicity such as organ weights and histopathology.

In this study the conversion of jute stick into biofuels and chemicals by externally heated fixed-bed pyrolysis reactor have been taken into consideration. The solid jute stick was characterized through proximate and ultimate analysis, gross calorific values and thermo-gravimetric analysis to investigate their suitability as feedstock for this consideration. The solid biomass particles were fed into the reactor by gravity feed type reactor feeder. The products were oil, char and gases. The liquid and char products were collected separately while the gas was flared into the atmosphere. The process conditions were varied by fixed-bed temperature; feed stock particle size, N2 gas flow rate and running time. All parameters were found to influence the product yields significantly. The maximum liquid yields were 50 wt% of solid jute stick at reactor temperature 425°C for N2 gas flow rate 6 l/min, feed particle size 1180-1700 µm and running time 30 min. Liquid products obtained at these conditions were characterized by physical properties, chemical analysis and GC-MS techniques. The results show that it is possible to obtained liquid products that are comparable to petroleum fuels and valuable chemical feedstock from the selected biomass if the pyrolysis conditions are chosen accordingly.

Samples of flash pyrolysis liquid produced by Union Fenosa, Spain from pine and straw and samples produced by Ensyn of Canada from mixed hardwoods were combusted with simple pressure atomization equipment commonly used with light fuel oils in intermediate size (0.1-1 MW) boilers. With a number of modifications to the combustion system, carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrous oxide (NO{sub x}) could be reduced to acceptable levels: CO < 30 ppm and NO{sub x} < 140 ppm. Particulate emissions which were initially very high (Bacharach 4-5) were reduced (Bach. 2-3) by system improvements but are still higher than from light fuel oil (Bach. <1). The modifications to the combustion system were: refractory section between burner and boiler, acid resistant progressive cavity pump, higher liquid preheat temperature and higher pressure than for light fuel oils. The main problems with pyrolysis liquids concerns their instability or reactivity. At temperatures above 100 deg C they begin to coke, their viscosity increases during storage and oxygen from air causes skin formation. This requires that special handling procedures are developed for fuel storage, delivery and combustion systems. (orig.)

Wood Pyrolysis oil (WPO) has been identified by the Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT) as the most competitive biofuel product which can be produced from biomass. The fuel is produced by a fast pyrolysis technique, using wood chipping`s or sawdust. The process can be applied to other recycling products such as straw etc. The use of WPO as a Diesel power plant fuel has been studied, and a fuel specification has been developed. The fuel characteristics have been analysed. There are several fuel properties addressed in the paper which have had to be overcome. New materials have been used in the fuel injection system. The fuel injection system development has progressed from a pump-line-pipe system to a common rail system. The fuel requires a pilot fuel oil injection to initiate combustion. The targets for the fuel injection system have been 1500 bar and 30 deg C injection period with a fuel of 15 MJ/kg lower heating value and 1220 Kg/m{sup 3} density. The combustion characteristics from both a small 80 mm bore engine initially, and then later with a single cylinder test of a 320 mm bore Waertsilae engine, have been evaluated. (author)

Four different types of coal have been pyrolyzed in a laminar flow, drop tube furnace in order to establish a relationship between polycyclic aromatic compound (PAC) evolution and mutagenicity. Temperatures of 900K to 1700K and particle residence times up to 0.3 sec were chosen to best simulate conditions of rapid rate pyrolysis in pulverized (44-53 microns) coal combustion. The specific mutagenic activity (i.e., the activity per unit sample weight) of extracts from particulates and volatiles captured on XAD-2 resin varied with coal type according to the order: subbituminous greater than high volatile bituminous greater than lignite greater than anthracite. Total mutagenic activity (the activity per gram of coal pyrolyzed), however, varied with coal type according to the order: high volatile bituminous much greater than subbituminous = lignite much greater than anthracite, due primarily to high organic yield during high volatile bituminous coal pyrolysis. Specific mutagenic activity peaked in a temperature range of 1300K to 1500K and generally appeared at higher temperatures and longer residence times than peak PAC production. PMID:3311724

From 2008 to 2013, an average of 2,821.4 kilotons/year of olive oil were produced around the world. The waste product of the olive mill industry consists of solid residue (pomace) and wastewater (OMW). Annually, around 30 million m3 of OMW are produced in the Mediterranean area, 700,000 m3 year?1 in Tunisia alone. OMW is an aqueous effluent characterized by an offensive smell and high organic matter content, including high molecular weight phenolic compounds and long-chain fatty acids. These compounds are highly toxic to micro-organisms and plants, which makes the OMW a serious threat to the environment if not managed properly. The OMW is disposed of in open air evaporation ponds. After evaporation of most of the water, OMWS is left in the bottom of the ponds. In this thesis, the effort has been made to evaluate the catalytic pyrolysis process as a technology to valorize the OMWS. The first section of this research showed that 41.12 wt. % of the OMWS is mostly lipids, which are a good source of energy. The second section proved that catalytic pyrolysis of the OMWS over red mud and HZSM-5 can produce green diesel, and 450 °C is the optimal reaction temperature to maximize the organic yields. The last section revealed that the HSF was behind the good fuel-like properties of the OMWS catalytic oils, whereas the SR hindered the bio-oil yields and quality.

All the products now obtained from oil can be provided by thermal conversion of the solid fuels biomass and coal. As a feedstock, biomass has many advantages over coal and has the potential to supply up to 20% of US energy by the year 2000 and significant amounts of energy for other countries. However, it is imperative that in producing biomass for energy we practice careful land use. Combustion is the simplest method of producing heat from biomass, using either the traditional fixed-bed combustion on a grate or the fluidized-bed and suspended combustion techniques now being developed. Pyrolysis of biomass is a particularly attractive process if all three products - gas, wood tars, and charcoal - can be used. Gasification of biomass with air is perhaps the most flexible and best-developed process for conversion of biomass to fuel today, yielding a low energy gas that can be burned in existing gas/oil boilers or in engines. Oxygen gasification yields a gas with higher energy content that can be used in pipelines or to fire turbines. In addition, this gas can be used for producing methanol, ammonia, or gasoline by indirect liquefaction. Fast pyrolysis of biomass produces a gas rich in ethylene that can be used to make alcohols or gasoline. Finally, treatment of biomass with high pressure hydrogen can yield liquid fuels through direct liquefaction.

The broadband inter-configurational (4f{sup 1}5d{sup 1{yields}}4f{sup 2}) emission of Pr{sup 3+} doped in lanthanum orthophosphate (LaPO{sub 4}) and in calcium pyrophosphate (Ca{sub 2}P{sub 2}O{sub 7}) has been investigated under plasma excitation. The synthesis by spray pyrolysis at moderate temperature followed by a controlled annealing proves to be a very efficient way to produce good quality UVC emitting phosphor Ca{sub 1.92}Pr{sub 0.04}Na{sub 0.04}P{sub 2}O{sub 7} ({alpha} phase). The emission of this phosphor in the wavelength range 200-350 nm has been measured with a prototype device, which can be employed for anti-microbial testing. - Research Highlights: {yields} The Pr{sup 3+} doped orthophosphate and pyrophosphate were synthesized by spray pyrolysis. {yields} The dense particles present good quality UVC emitting (200-350 nm). {yields} The prototype device can be employed for anti-microbial testing.

A containment vessel for use in mobile nuclear reactor installations is described. The containment vessel completely surrounds the entire primary system, and is located as close to the reactor primary system components as is possible in order to minimize weight. In addition to being designed to withstand a specified internal pressure, the containment vessel is also designed to maintain integrity as a containment vessel in case of a possible collision accident

A large number of annular cooling fins are disposed each at an equal distance on the outer circumferential surface of a vessel main body. An electric power generation module is disposed on the surface of the cooling fins. The electric power generation module comprises a plurality of thermoelectric power generation elements. In each of the thermoelectric generation elements, the inner side thereof in contact with the surface of the cooling fin is at a high temperature while the outer side thereof is at a low temperature nearly equal with an atmospheric temperature. A predetermined amount of electric power is generated by seebeck effect due to the temperature difference. The electric power is always stored in a battery. Accordingly, even if a power generator of a ship should fail and power supply is stopped during transportation of the vessels for spent nuclear fuels, an appropriate amount of electric power can be supplied to a cooling device of the ship. (I.N.)

Full Text Available the structural design or material requirements for seals, but also require an overpressure of 140 kPa, and this within 24 hours of construction. Approved systems for seal construction from MSHA are concrete blocks, Omega 384 foam blocks, cementitious foam........................................................................................................................ 7 2.1.2 Masonry ....................................................................................................................... 7 2.1.3 Concrete...

A Low Impact Docking System (LIDS) is being developed by the NASA Johnson Space Center to support future missions of the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV). The LIDS is androgynous, such that each system half is identical, thus any two vehicles or modules with LIDS can be coupled. Since each system half is a replica, the main interface seals must seal against each other instead of a conventional flat metal surface. These sealing surfaces are also expected to be exposed to the space environment when vehicles are not docked. The NASA Glenn Research Center (NASA GRC) is supporting this project by developing the main interface seals for the LIDS and determining the durability of candidate seal materials in the space environment. In space, the seals will be exposed to temperatures of between 50 to 50 C, vacuum, atomic oxygen, particle and ultraviolet radiation, and micrometeoroid and orbital debris (MMOD). NASA GRC is presently engaged in determining the effects of these environments on our candidate elastomers. Since silicone rubber is the only class of seal elastomer that functions across the expected temperature range, NASA GRC is focusing on three silicone elastomers: two provided by Parker Hannifin (S0-899-50 and S0-383-70) and one from Esterline Kirkhill (ELA-SA-401). Our results from compression set, elastomer to elastomer adhesion, and seal leakage tests before and after various simulated space exposures will be presented.

There is an increasing acceptance of reduced waste packaging methods for pharmaceutical and medical products. The high level of product integrity must be maintained, while manufacturing lines are required to increase production rates. To ensure their confidence in these packaging methods, manufacturers have turned to process validation as one method of check. In addition to that effort, automated on-line inspection has become increasingly important. Automated inspection can be used to augment manual inspection techniques that are viable at slower production rates. In this paper we explore the elements of a systematic approach that can provide 100% automatic inspection of product seals at full production rates. The various materials used to seal packages effect the system configuration. One such package sealing material is highly specular (mirror-like) laminated foil. A characteristic of this packaging method is its ability to reflect nearly all of the light from the surface. However, the heat process required to bond the seal to the package creates a coining effect where a uniform, low to medium intensity light source, transmitted at a low incident angle, can be used to identify seal defects. It is equally difficult to inspect package seals that are opaque, translucent, or transparent. Each seal material requires a specific lighting solution. When using reflective material, great care must be taken to develop and integrate the lighting method to an automated package seal inspection system.

The intent of this research project is to identify a wide variety of parameters that influence the performance of pavements treated via chip seals within the State of Idaho. Chip sealing is currently one of the most popular methods of maintenance for...

The development of population genetic structure in ice-breeding seal species is likely to be shaped by a combination of breeding habitat and life-history characteristics. Species that return to breed on predictable fast-ice locations are more likely to exhibit natal fidelity than pack-ice-breeding species, which in turn facilitates the development of genetic differentiation between subpopulations. Other aspects of life history such as geographically distinct vocalizations, female gregariousness, and the potential for polygynous breeding may also facilitate population structure. Based on these factors, we predicted that fast-ice-breeding seal species (the Weddell and ringed seal) would show elevated genetic differentiation compared to pack-ice-breeding species (the leopard, Ross, crabeater and bearded seals). We tested this prediction using microsatellite analysis to examine population structure of these six ice-breeding species. Our results did not support this prediction. While none of the Antarctic pack-ice species showed statistically significant population structure, the bearded seal of the Arctic pack ice showed strong differentiation between subpopulations. Again in contrast, the fast-ice-breeding Weddell seal of the Antarctic showed clear evidence for genetic differentiation while the ringed seal, breeding in similar habitat in the Arctic, did not. These results suggest that the development of population structure in ice-breeding phocid seals is a more complex outcome of the interplay of phylogenetic and ecological factors than can be predicted on the basis of breeding substrate and life-history characteristics.

The annual reproductive cycle of most seal species is characterized by a tight synchrony of births. Typically, timing of birth shows little inter-annual variation. Here, however we show that harbour seals Phoca vitulina from the Wadden Sea (southeast North Sea) have shortened their yearly cycle,

... 39 Postal Service 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Seal. 2.4 Section 2.4 Postal Service UNITED STATES... Secretary of State, and is required by 39 U.S.C. 207 to be judicially noticed. The Seal shall be in the... description of the Postal Service emblem is described at 39 CFR 221.7. ...

A docking system is being developed by the NASA to support future space missions. It is expected to use redundant elastomer seals to help contain cabin air during dockings between two spacecraft. The sealing surfaces are exposed to the space environment when vehicles are not docked. In space, the seals will be exposed to temperatures between 125 to -75 C, vacuum, atomic oxygen, particle and ultraviolet radiation, and micrometeoroid and orbital debris (MMOD). Silicone rubber is the only class of space flight-qualified elastomeric seal material that functions across the expected temperature range. NASA Glenn has tested three silicone elastomers for such seal applications: two provided by Parker (S0899-50 and S0383-70) and one from Esterline (ELA-SA-401). The effects of atomic oxygen (AO), UV and electron particle radiation, and vacuum on the properties of these three elastomers were examined. Critical seal properties such as leakage, adhesion, and compression set were measured before and after simulated space exposures. The S0899-50 silicone was determined to be inadequate for extended space seal applications due to high adhesion and intolerance to UV, but both S0383-70 and ELA-SA-401 seals were adequate.

Reactor systems (BWR, PWR and Candu) are briefly reviewed with reference to the pumping services encountered in each system, to indicate the conditions imposed on mechanical seals for nuclear power plant liquid handling equipment. A description of the Dura Seals used in each service is included. (U.K.)

.001). The median survival time for sealings not replaced by restorations was 7.3 y (CI, 6.4 y to NA). Survival of sealings was increased in patients with low caries risk and/or excellent oral hygiene, second molars compared with first molars, and lesions not extending the middle one-third of the dentin. Survival...

SCK-CEN's R and D programme on Reactor Pressure Vessel (RPV) Steels in performed in support of the RVP integrity assessment. Its main objectives are: (1) to develop enhanced surveillance concepts by applying micromechanics and fracture-toughness tests to small specimens, and by performing damage modelling and microstructure characterization; (2) to demonstrate the applied methodology on a broad database; (3) to achieve regulatory acceptance and industrial use. Progress and achievements in 1999 are reported.

Disclosed herein is a composite pressure vessel with a liner having a polar boss and a blind boss a shell is formed around the liner via one or more filament wrappings continuously disposed around at least a substantial portion of the liner assembly combined the liner and filament wrapping have a support profile. To reduce susceptible to rupture a locally disposed filament fiber is added.

Data on phenomenology of radiation-induced changes in blood vessels are systematized and authors' experience is generalized. Modern concepts about processes leading to vessel structure injury after irradiation is critically analyzed. Special attention is paid to reparation and compensation of X-ray vessel injury, consideration of which is not yet sufficiently elucidated in literature

Data on phenomeology of radiation changes of blood vessels are systemized and the authors' experience is generalyzed. A critical analysis of modern conceptions on processes resulting in vessel structure damage after irradiation, is given. Special attention is paid to reparation and compensation of radiation injury of vessels

The construction of materials and life science experimental facility in J-PARC (Japan Proton Accelerator Complex) project had been completed and accepted pulsed proton beams with low power. Since 2003, the detailed design, fabrication and examination for the mercury target vessel as a pulsed neutron source were carried out by the vender. The mercury target vessel consists of triple-walled structure in order to prevent the leak of mercury to outside at the failure of the mercury vessel and to remove the heat of the safety hull, which covers the mercury vessel, due to the injection of the pulsed proton beams. The high fabrication accuracy is required for the mercury target vessel assembled by the welding, because there are the relationships between the mercury target vessel and other components (target trolley, target storage container, flange of helium vessel, reflector and water-cooled shield). At each fabrication step, the examinations for the mercury target vessel with multi-walled structure were required. In this report, the required specification and basic structure of parts in the mercury target vessel are described and the fabrication procedure of the mercury target vessel by the vender is reported. In the fabrication of the mercury target vessel, there were many troubles such as large deformation due to the welding and then the vender repaired and brought the mercury target vessel to completion. Furthermore, improvements for the design and fabrication of the mercury target are reported. (author)

In the spring and summer 2014, an outbreak of seal influenza A(H10N7) virus infection occurred among harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) off the coasts of Sweden and Denmark. This virus subsequently spread to harbor seals off the coasts of Germany and the Netherlands. While thousands of seals were

In the spring and summer 2014, an outbreak of seal influenza A(H10N7) virus infection occurred among harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) off the coasts of Sweden and Denmark. This virus subsequently spread to harbor seals off the coasts of Germany and the Netherlands. While thousands of seals were

A nozzle for joining a pool of water to a nuclear reactor pressure vessel includes a tubular body having a proximal end joinable to the pressure vessel and a distal end joinable in flow communication with the pool. The body includes a flow passage therethrough having in serial flow communication a first port at the distal end, a throat spaced axially from the first port, a conical channel extending axially from the throat, and a second port at the proximal end which is joinable in flow communication with the pressure vessel. The inner diameter of the flow passage decreases from the first port to the throat and then increases along the conical channel to the second port. In this way, the conical channel acts as a diverging channel or diffuser in the forward flow direction from the first port to the second port for recovering pressure due to the flow restriction provided by the throat. In the backflow direction from the second port to the first port, the conical channel is a converging channel and with the abrupt increase in flow area from the throat to the first port collectively increase resistance to flow therethrough.

The Concorde produces audible sonic booms as it passes 15 km north of Sable Island, Nova Scotia, where gray and harbor seals occur year round. The purpose of this research was to assess how sonic booms affect these seals. The intensity of the booms was measured and three types of data (beach counts, frequency of behavior, and heart rate) were collected before and after booms during the breeding seasons of the two species. In addition to the data taken during breeding, beach counts were made before and after booms during the gray seal moult. The greatest range in overpressure within a single boom was 2.70 psf during gray seal breeding and 2.07 psf during harbor seal breeding. No significant differences were found in the behavior or beach counts of gray seals following sonic booms, regardless of the season. Beach counts and most behaviors of harbor seals also did not differ significantly following booms, however, harbor seals became more vigilant. The heart rates of four gray seal mothers and three pups showed no clear change as a result of booms, but six male harbor seals showed a nonsignificant tendency toward elevated heart rates during the 15-s interval of the boom. These results suggest sonic booms produced by the Concorde, in level flight at altitude and producing on average a sonic boom of 0.9 psf, do not substantially affect the breeding behavior of gray or harbor seals.

Full Text Available Packaging protects food products from environmental influences, assuring quality and safety throughout shelf life if properly performed. Packaging quality depends on the quality of the packaging material and of the closure or seal. A common problem possibly jeopardizing seal quality is the presence of seal contamination, which can cause a decreased seal strength, an increased packaging failure risk and leak formation. Therefore, early detection and removal of seal contaminated packages from the production chain is crucial. In this work, a pulsed-type active thermography method using the heated seal bars as an excitation source was studied for detecting seal contamination. Thermal image sequences of contaminated seals were recorded shortly after sealing. The detection performances of six thermal image processing methods, based on a single frame, a fit of the cooling profiles, thermal signal reconstruction, pulsed phase thermography, principal component thermography and a matched filter, were compared. High resolution digital images served as a reference to quantify seal contamination, and processed thermal images were mapped to these references. The lowest detection limit (equivalent diameter 0.60 mm was obtained for the method based on a fit of the cooling profiles. Moreover, the detection performance of this method did not depend strongly on the time after sealing at which recording of the thermal images was started, making it a robust and generally applicable method.

The Columbia Accident investigation Board (CAIB) requested an investigation into the MLG door seals. Initially, the MLG door seals were thought to have been a potential contributor to the loss of Columbia. These suspicions were later found to be untrue, but the seals remained as a cause for concern in future flights. MLG door seals comprised of thermal barrier and environmental seal. This study focuses on the environmental seal for the MLG door.

Coke for iron-making is produced by pyrolysis of coals in coke oven. COG (Coke Oven Gas) by carbonizing is used as energy source in steel works. Waste plastics recycling process using coke ovens is mixed with coals and carbonized in coke oven. Though the process is in operation, the effect to COG is still uncertain. Then first, in order to identify secondary decomposition of pyrolysis products of plastics such as light oil, tar, and gas and analyze more intimate behavior of plastics during pyrolysis, experimental system which has warm-up part for primary decomposition and heating part for secondary decomposition was developed. This experimental system has a Fourier transform-infrared spectrometer (FT-IR) as detector and can monitor the several kinds of gases, such as hydrocarbons, CO and CO{sub 2} simultaneously, continuously and simply. Secondly, behavior of secondary pyrolysis of plastics was analyzed. Finally, behavior of pyrolysis of mixed sample composed by plastics and coals was analyzed and each pyrolysis product was evaluated. In consequence, this paper reports that gas process of evolution, amounts of evolved gases, and compositions of evolved gases have additive property Thus, there is no effect by mixing plastics resulting from the evolved gases during pyrolysis.

The energy efficiency of torrefaction/pyrolysis of biomass to fuel/biochar was studied using conventional (slow) and microwave (low temperature) pyrolysis. Conventional pyrolysis is approximately three times as energy efficient as microwave pyrolysis, in terms of the energy required to process a unit of feedstock. However, this is more than compensated for by the higher energy content of the condensable and gaseous coproducts from microwave pyrolysis, as these can be utilized to generate the ...

A variety of corneal pathology can lead to corneal ulcers and perforations. A deep corneal ulcer may need surgical treatment to allow good volume restoration and reepithelisation. Corneal perforation must be sealed and when the perforation is large, the task of repairing the defect can be underwhelming. The elegant solution is the corneal transplant, but this is not always readily available, especially in undeveloped countries. We present here two cases with different solutions to seal the perforated cornea: the first one has a large peripheral defect and it is successfully sealed with scleral patch and the second one is central with small perforation and is successfully sealed with multilayered amniotic membrane. Both cases are followed for over 12 months and demonstrate good corneal restoration (both on clinical examination and corneal topography). Sclera and amniotic membrane can be used to seal corneal defects when corneal transplant is not readily available.

boreholes which in some cases can act as direct openings down to aquifers. The reasons for this may include bad or missing seal. In this context, Schmidt (1999) concluded that there is no proven way to make a clay seal with the desired tightness. This thesis deals primarily with the properties of bentonite...... pellets as sealing material in groundwater wells. The way and the pattern, in which bentonite pellets are deposited, have been shown to have an effect on the swelling pressure of the bentonite seal. During the transport phase of pellets from the terrain to a given sedimentation depth, a sorting process...... on the maximum swelling pressure; i) the bulk density of the sample, and ii) whether the sample is sorted or unsorted. CT scans (Computed Tomography) have been used to evaluate certain properties of bentonite seals in a limited volume. In this context, a set of algorithms to convert CT numbers (HU unit...

Pyrolysis of empty fruit bunches (EFB) was performed in a fixed bed reactor equipped with liquid collecting system. Pyrolysis process was conducted by varying the terminal pyrolysis temperature from 300 to 500°C under heating rate of 10°C/min for at least 2 hours. Char yield was obtained highest at 300°C around 55.88 wt%, and started to decrease as temperature increase. The maximum yield of pyrolysis liquid was obtained around 54.75 wt% as pyrolysis temperature reach 450°C. For gas yield percentage, the yield gained as temperature was increased from 300 to 500°C, within the range between 8.44 to 19.32 wt%. The char obtained at 400°C has great potential as an alternative solid fuel, due to its high heating value of 23.37 MJ/kg, low in volatile matter and ash content which are approximately around 40.32 and 11.12 wt%, respectively. The collected pyrolysis liquid within this temperature range found to have high water content of around 16.15 to 18.20 wt%. The high aqueous fraction seemed to cause the pyrolysis liquid to have low HHV which only ranging from 10.81 to 12.94 MJ/kg. These trends of results showed that necessary enhancement should be employ either on the raw biomass or pyrolysis products in order to approach at least the minimum quality of common hydrocarbon solid or liquid fuel. For energy production, both produced bio-char and pyrolysis liquid are considered as sustainable sources of bio-energy since they contained low amounts of nitrogen and sulphur, which are considered as environmental friendly solid and liquid fuel

Pyrolysis of empty fruit bunches (EFB) was performed in a fixed bed reactor equipped with liquid collecting system. Pyrolysis process was conducted by varying the terminal pyrolysis temperature from 300 to 500°C under heating rate of 10°C/min for at least 2 hours. Char yield was obtained highest at 300°C around 55.88 wt%, and started to decrease as temperature increase. The maximum yield of pyrolysis liquid was obtained around 54.75 wt% as pyrolysis temperature reach 450°C. For gas yield percentage, the yield gained as temperature was increased from 300 to 500°C, within the range between 8.44 to 19.32 wt%. The char obtained at 400°C has great potential as an alternative solid fuel, due to its high heating value of 23.37 MJ/kg, low in volatile matter and ash content which are approximately around 40.32 and 11.12 wt%, respectively. The collected pyrolysis liquid within this temperature range found to have high water content of around 16.15 to 18.20 wt%. The high aqueous fraction seemed to cause the pyrolysis liquid to have low HHV which only ranging from 10.81 to 12.94 MJ/kg. These trends of results showed that necessary enhancement should be employ either on the raw biomass or pyrolysis products in order to approach at least the minimum quality of common hydrocarbon solid or liquid fuel. For energy production, both produced bio-char and pyrolysis liquid are considered as sustainable sources of bio-energy since they contained low amounts of nitrogen and sulphur, which are considered as environmental friendly solid and liquid fuel.

Biomass is increasingly perceived as a renewable resource rather than as an organic solid waste today, as it can be converted to various chemicals, biofuels, and solid biochar using modern processes. In the past few years, pyrolysis has attracted growing interest as a promising versatile platform to convert biomass into valuable resources. However, an efficient and selective conversion process is still difficult to be realized due to the complex nature of biomass, which usually makes the products complicated. Furthermore, various contaminants and inorganic elements (e.g., heavy metals, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, and chlorine) embodied in biomass may be transferred into pyrolysis products or released into the environment, arousing environmental pollution concerns. Understanding their behaviors in biomass pyrolysis is essential to optimizing the pyrolysis process for efficient resource recovery and less environmental pollution. However, there is no comprehensive review so far about the fates of chemical elements in biomass during its pyrolysis. Here, we provide a critical review about the fates of main chemical elements (C, H, O, N, P, Cl, S, and metals) in biomass during its pyrolysis. We overview the research advances about the emission, transformation, and distribution of elements in biomass pyrolysis, discuss the present challenges for resource-oriented conversion and pollution abatement, highlight the importance and significance of understanding the fate of elements during pyrolysis, and outlook the future development directions for process control. The review provides useful information for developing sustainable biomass pyrolysis processes with an improved efficiency and selectivity as well as minimized environmental impacts, and encourages more research efforts from the scientific communities of chemistry, the environment, and energy.

Highlights: • Volatile from MSW pyrolysis is reformed with hot char from the same pyrolysis process. • The yields of syngas increase evidently with H 2 being the main contributor and the major component of the syngas. • Pyrolysis oil becomes light and its composition distribution is narrowed. • The HHV, volatile elements and alkali metals contents in the char decrease. • The emissions including SO 2 , NO, NO 2 and HCN changed after reforming process. - Abstract: Volatile products obtained from pyrolysis of municipal solid waste (MSW), including syngas and pyrolysis oil, were forced to contact the hot char from the same pyrolysis process at 500–600 °C in a fixed bed reactor to be reformed. The yields and properties of syngas, char and pyrolysis liquid were investigated; and the energy re-distribution among the products due to char reforming was quantified. The preliminary investigation at lab scale showed that hot char-catalytic reforming of the volatiles leads to an increase in the dry syngas yield from 0.25 to 0.37 N m 3 kg −1 MSW at 550 °C. Accordingly, the carbon conversion ratio into syngas increases from 29.6% to 35.0%; and the MSW chemical energy transferred into syngas increased from 41.8% to 47.4%. The yield of pyrolysis liquid products, including pyrolysis oil and water, decreased from 27.3 to 16.5 wt%, and the molecular weight of the oil becoming lighter. Approximately 60% of the water vapour contained in the volatiles converted into syngas. After reforming, the concentrations of SO 2 and HCN in the syngas decreases, while those of NO and NO 2 increase. The char concentrations of N, H, C and alkali metal species decreased and its higher heating value decreased too.

Granules of waste tires were pyrolyzed under vacuum (3.5-10 kPa) conditions, and the effects of temperature and basic additives (Na 2 CO 3 , NaOH) on the properties of pyrolysis were thoroughly investigated. It was obvious that with or without basic additives, pyrolysis oil yield increased gradually to a maximum and subsequently decreased with a temperature increase from 450 deg. C to 600 deg. C, irrespective of the addition of basic additives to the reactor. The addition of NaOH facilitated pyrolysis dramatically, as a maximal pyrolysis oil yield of about 48 wt% was achieved at 550 deg. C without the addition of basic additives, while a maximal pyrolysis oil yield of about 50 wt% was achieved at 480 deg. C by adding 3 wt% (w/w, powder/waste tire granules) of NaOH powder. The composition analysis of pyrolytic naphtha (i.b.p. (initial boiling point) ∼205 deg. C) distilled from pyrolysis oil showed that more dl-limonene was obtained with basic additives and the maximal content of dl-limonene in pyrolysis oil was 12.39 wt%, which is a valuable and widely-used fine chemical. However, no improvement in pyrolysis was observed with Na 2 CO 3 addition. Pyrolysis gas was mainly composed of H 2 , CO, CH 4 , CO 2 , C 2 H 4 and C 2 H 6 . Pyrolytic char had a surface area comparable to commercial carbon black, but its proportion of ash (above 11.5 wt%) was much higher

A flexible seal having an X-shaped cross section that forms four contact points on four contact surfaces of two opposed seal slots. The flexible seal is used for a component in which the two seal slots undergo a large deflection such that the opposed slots are not aligned and a rigid seal will not form an adequate seal. The flexible seal can be used in a component of a combustor or a turbine in a gas turbine engine where opposed seal slots undergo the large deflection during operation.

A conceptually new type of seal has been developed for gas turbine applications which dramatically reduces wear and leakage associated with current labyrinth and brush seal technologies. The Hybrid Floating Brush Seal (HFBS) combines brush seal and film riding face seal technologies to create a hybrid seal that allows both axial and radial excursions of the sealed shaft, while simultaneously eliminating interface surface speeds (friction and heat) between the rotor and the brush material that characterize standard brush seal technology. A simple test rig was designed to evaluate feasibility of the HFBS under relatively low pressures and rotational speeds (50psig, 5krpm). A second test stand was created to study the effects of centrifugal force on bristle deflection. A third test facility was constructed for prototype development and extensive room temperature testing at moderate pressures and fairly high rotational speeds (100psig, 40krpm). This test rig also allowed the evaluation of the HFBS during axial movement of a rotating shaft. An analytical model to predict the effects of centrifugal force on the bristles of a rotating brush seal was developed. Room temperature analysis of the HFBS proved successful for relatively high operating rotational velocities at moderate pressures with very acceptable leakage rates for gas turbine engines. Brush seals were able to track rotor speeds up to 24krpm while maintaining sealing integrity. The HFBS's ability to function under axial shaft displacement and synchronous dynamic radial loading was also proven successful. Hydrodynamic performance of the face seal was proven to provide adequate stiffness and load carrying capacity to keep the brush seal from contacting the face seal at pressure drops across the brush of up to 100psi. Leakage performance over standard brush seal and labyrinth technology was quite dramatic. The HFBS showed its sealing advantage using much higher radial interference between the rotor and the bristle

Full Text Available This study examined the licensing system that permits seal shooting in Scotland, which was established under Part 6 Conservation of Seals of the Marine (Scotland Act 2010. Four approaches were used: data were collated and analyzed from both the Scottish Government and Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme; a survey was sent to current license holders and informal interviews were conducted with key stakeholder types. Between February 2011 and the end of October 2015, 1229 gray seals and 275 common seals were reported shot under license to the Scottish Government. The numbers of seals reported as shot has reduced year-on-year since the licensing system was put in place. While some license holders, notably fish farms, were using some non-lethal forms of deterrent to reduce seal-related damage, these were often used alongside seal shooting. Of the seals reported as shot to the Scottish Government, only a small percentage were also reported to the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme, despite this being a licensing requirement. Only 2.3% of the shot gray seals and 4.5% of the shot common seals were necropsied. There is evidence from these necropsies that some seals had not died instantly or had not been shot in the manner recommended by the Scottish Seal Management Code of Practice. These preliminary results show that more carcasses need to be recovered and necropsied if the welfare implications of current seal shooting practice are to be properly assessed. The current legislation does not specify closed seasons to protect breeding seals and thirty-five per cent of necropsied seals were pregnant gray seals. Seals have also been shot during their lactation periods when pups are dependent on their mothers. This raises significant welfare concerns. The re-introduction of closed seasons specific to each species of seal is recommended along with greater effort to deploy non-lethal methods. Independent assessment of the number of seals being killed

Potentially violent chemical reactions of the tributyl phosphate solvent used by the Plutonium Finishing Plant at the Hanford Site were investigated. There is a small probability that a significant quantity of this solvent could be accidental transferred to heated process vessels and react there with nitric acid or plutonium nitrate also present in the solvent extraction process. The results of laboratory studies of the reactions show that exothermic oxidation of tributyl phosphate by either nitric acid or actinide nitrates is slow at temperatures expected in the heated vessels. Less than four percent of the tributyl phosphate will be oxidized in these vented vessels at temperatures between 125 degrees C and 250 degrees C because the oxidant will be lost from the vessels by vaporization or decomposition before the tributyl phosphate can be extensively oxidized. The net amounts of heat generated by oxidation with concentrated nitric acid and with thorium nitrate (a stand-in for plutonium nitrate) were determined to be about -150 and -220 joules per gram of tributyl phosphate initially present, respectively. This is not enough heat to cause violent reactions in the vessels. Pyrolysis of the tributyl phosphate occurred in these mixtures at temperatures of 110 degrees C to 270 degrees C and produced mainly 1-butene gas, water, and pyrophosphoric acid. Butene gas generation is slow at expected process vessel temperatures, but the rate is faster at higher temperatures. At 252 degrees C the rate of butene gas generated was 0.33 g butene/min/g of tributyl phosphate present. The measured heat absorbed by the pyrolysis reaction was 228 J/g of tributyl phosphate initially present (or 14.5 kcal/mole of tributyl phosphate). Release of flammable butene gas into process areas where it could ignite appears to be the most serious safety consideration for the Plutonium Finishing Plant

Potentially violent chemical reactions of the tributyl phosphate solvent used by the Plutonium Finishing Plant at the Hanford Site were investigated. There is a small probability that a significant quantity of this solvent could be accidental transferred to heated process vessels and react there with nitric acid or plutonium nitrate also present in the solvent extraction process. The results of laboratory studies of the reactions show that exothermic oxidation of tributyl phosphate by either nitric acid or actinide nitrates is slow at temperatures expected in the heated vessels. Less than four percent of the tributyl phosphate will be oxidized in these vented vessels at temperatures between 125{degrees}C and 250{degrees}C because the oxidant will be lost from the vessels by vaporization or decomposition before the tributyl phosphate can be extensively oxidized. The net amounts of heat generated by oxidation with concentrated nitric acid and with thorium nitrate (a stand-in for plutonium nitrate) were determined to be about -150 and -220 joules per gram of tributyl phosphate initially present, respectively. This is not enough heat to cause violent reactions in the vessels. Pyrolysis of the tributyl phosphate occurred in these mixtures at temperatures of 110{degrees}C to 270{degrees}C and produced mainly 1-butene gas, water, and pyrophosphoric acid. Butene gas generation is slow at expected process vessel temperatures, but the rate is faster at higher temperatures. At 252{degrees}C the rate of butene gas generated was 0.33 g butene/min/g of tributyl phosphate present. The measured heat absorbed by the pyrolysis reaction was 228 J/g of tributyl phosphate initially present (or 14.5 kcal/mole of tributyl phosphate). Release of flammable butene gas into process areas where it could ignite appears to be the most serious safety consideration for the Plutonium Finishing Plant.

This paper is concerned with the development of a model of wood pyrolysis in a screw reactor as the first stage of the multistage gasification process. To prevent clinkering of particles and thermal inhomogeneities, screw-type transportation is used to transport fuel. In order to describe kinetics of pyrolysis and transport of volatiles within the wood particles and their transition to the gas phase we carried out the studies using a complex of synchronous thermal analysis. A detailed numerical modeling of pyrolyzer was performed with the Comsol Multiphysics software which makes it possible to optimize the design and operating parameters of the pyrolysis process in a screw reactor.

due to coking of the catalyst is an inhibitive problem for this technology. The objective of the present work is to produce oxygen free gasoline and diesel from biomass by hydrogen assisted catalytic fast pyrolysis. Fast pyrolysis of beech wood has been performed in high-pressure hydrogen atmosphere......Fast pyrolysis of biomass is a well-known technology for producing bio-oil, however in order to use the oil as transportation fuel the oxygen content must be decreased from approximately 30 wt.% to below 1 wt.%. This can be achieved by catalytic hydrodeoxygenation (HDO). Unfortunately, deactivation...

To prevent plugging in a pyrolysis operation where an agglomerative coal in a nondeleteriously reactive carrier gas is injected as a turbulent jet from an opening into an elongate pyrolysis reactor, the coal is comminuted to a size where the particles under operating conditions will detackify prior to contact with internal reactor surfaces while a secondary flow of fluid is introduced along the peripheral inner surface of the reactor to prevent backflow of the coal particles. The pyrolysis operation is depicted by two equations which enable preselection of conditions which insure prevention of reactor plugging.

To evaluate the chemical recycling of plastic residues, co-pyrolysis of polypropylene (PP) waste with Brazilian crude oil was evaluated varying the temperature (400°C to 500°C) and the amount of PP fed to the reactor. The co-pyrolysis of plastic waste in an inert atmosphere provided around 80% of oil pyrolytic, and of these, half represent the fraction of diesel oil. This study can be used as a reference in chemical recycling of plastics, specially associated with plastics co-pyrolysis.

In a continuous process for recovery of values contained in a solid carbonaceous material, the carbonaceous material is comminuted and then subjected to flash pyrolysis in the presence of a particulate heat source to form a pyrolysis product stream containing a carbon containing solid residue and volatilized hydrocarbons. After the carbon containing solid residue is separated from the pyrolysis product stream, values are obtained by condensing volatilized hydrocarbons. The particulate source of heat is formed by oxidizing carbon in the solid residue. Apparatus useful for practicing this process are disclosed.

Fast pyrolysis of biomass is a well-known technology for producing bio-oil, however in order to use the oil as transportation fuel the oxygen content must be decreased from approximately 30 wt.% to below 1 wt.%. This can be achieved by catalytic hydrodeoxygenation (HDO). Unfortunately, deactivation...... due to coking of the catalyst is an inhibitive problem for this technology. The objective of the present work is to produce oxygen free gasoline and diesel from biomass by hydrogen assisted catalytic fast pyrolysis. Fast pyrolysis of beech wood has been performed in high-pressure hydrogen atmosphere...

Full Text Available Abstract Background The condition of many marine mammals varies with fluctuations in productivity and food supply in the ocean basin where they forage. Prey is impacted by physical environmental variables such as cyclic warming trends. The weaning weight of northern elephant seal pups, Mirounga angustirostris, being closely linked to maternal condition, indirectly reflects prey availability and foraging success of pregnant females in deep waters of the northeastern Pacific. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of ocean climate on foraging success in this deep-diving marine mammal over the course of three decades, using cohort weaning weight as the principal metric of successful resource accrual. Results The mean annual weaning weight of pups declined from 1975 to the late 1990s, a period characterized by a large-scale, basin-wide warm decadal regime that included multiple strong or long-duration El Niños; and increased with a return to a cool decadal regime from about 1999 to 2004. Increased foraging effort and decreased mass gain of adult females, indicative of reduced foraging success and nutritional stress, were associated with high ocean temperatures. Conclusion Despite ranging widely and foraging deeply in cold waters beyond coastal thermoclines in the northeastern Pacific, elephant seals are impacted significantly by ocean thermal dynamics. Ocean warming redistributes prey decreasing foraging success of females, which in turn leads to lower weaning mass of pups. Annual fluctuations in weaning mass, in turn, reflect the foraging success of females during the year prior to giving birth and signals changes in ocean temperature cycles.

A bibliographical research on the problem of the backfilling and sealing of boreholes, shafts and tunnels for radioactive waste disposal has been carried out. Various materials - both natural and artificial - like clay, industrial cement, polymer concrete, geothermical and magnesium cement have been examined. Their main physico-chemical and durability characteristics have been examined. The problem of the interaction between the sealing and the geological environment has been also dealt. The final subject discussed in the bibliography is the damage caused to the host formation by the excavation of shafts and tunnels. The laboratory tests have been performed on a natural clay and other types of material (cement grout, cement grout with expansive additive, cement mortar and remoulded clay) which have been used as plug materials. The main conclusions obtained from the tests are the following: - The permeability of the cement is lower than the permeability of the clay; - no adhesion was observed between clay and cement mortar, with or without expansive additive, when cured under different ambient conditions, but without any application of load; - When curing took place under load, good adhesion was observed between the clay and the cement mortar; - The flow of water in a specimen consisting of a clay core surrounded by remoulded clay is larger than in the natural clay. These results seem to be caused by the different permeabilities of the remoulded and undisturbed clay and not to depend on flow at the contact between the two materials. A remote instrumentation package for the in situ evaluation of the performance of a plug, has been developed. In order to get rid of the uncertainty associated with the infiltration of the cables through the plug a wireless data transmission system, based on acoustic waves, has been developed